Beginning to Heal
by WolfstarKlaine11
Summary: After a traumatic event at McKinley high school, Kurt Hummel trasferres to Dalton academy, just a broken shell of the boy he once was. Blaine Anderson, Kurt's cheerful roomate, is determined to get Kurt talking. What will happen? Will Kurt find refuge at Dalton academy?
1. Chapter one - Emergency transfers

**Yay, finally a Glee fanfic! I've been wanting to do one for a while, but I've been busy with Harry Potter stuff so I never got around to it.**

 **This is rated... M, I think? It has description of sexual assault and things, but nothing really graphic. And I suppose warnings for future slash.**

GLEEGLEEGLEE

You wanted to see me, sir?" Blaine said politely, sticking his head into principal Darner's office. The principal had summoned him to the office earlier that day.

"Have a seat, Blaine." Darner said, looking grim. Blaine frowned at the look on the principals face before he slowly lowered himself into the chair across from the principals desk and looked at him expectantly.

"What's going on?" Blaine said.

"Well, you remember a few weeks ago whenever I told you that you would be getting a roomate, Kurt Hummel?" Blaine nodded. He was excited at the prospect of having a roomate, as long as he was not homophobic or a total stick-up-the-ass. He had expiriance with both. "Well, there are some... conditions that we weren't aware of." Darner said with a sigh.

Blaine furrowed his eyebrows. "Conditions, sir? How do you mean? He's still coming, isn't he?"

"Oh, yes, of course he is." Darner said with a small smile. "But... You need to be very careful around him. He's been through a lot, so he's very quiet and skittish. He probably won't talk very much."

"He's been through a lot?" Blaine repeated with a frown "Like what?"

"You know I'm not at liberty to discuss that." Darner said. "But his situation was... similar to yours, in a way."

Blaine's eyes widened. So the kid was bullied, then. He remembered how he was when he first transferred to Dalton acadamy: frightened, skittish, and not willing to talk to anyone. Only when Wes and David had been assigned as his mentors did he start to open up to people.

He was aching to ask more questions, but he knew that they wouldn't be answered. "I... I won't let you down, sir." Blaine said determinedly.

"I know, Blaine. You're a good kid. Just be careful, alright? You're dismissed" Blaine nodded and got out of his chair to leave, his curiosity definatly piqued.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Kurt Hummel was terrified.

He tried to listen to what the secretary was saying, but all he could bring himself to do was clutch the sleeve of his blazer tightly and stare at his lap.

Maybe that was the problem, he thought. Maybe if he wasn't so quiet, if he actually talked to people besides the glee club, he wouldn't have been bullied. Maybe if he kept his head down in class and didn't have such good grades, he wouldn't be the target of so many jocks. Maybe if he was straight, he might have a girlfriend instead if a closeted football player hunting him down and molesting him in the locker room.

"Kurt?" He heard a voice say lightly. Kurt forced himself to look up at the secretary who was speaking.

The woman was smiling, but her eyes were full of pity. Kurt hated the pity. It made him feel so stupid and weak. "Yes?" He replied softly.

"I was just telling your dad that your about your soon to be roomate. His name is Blaine Anderson. He has lots of friends at this school, so he should be able to help you meet some people."

Great. Blaine was popular. Probably a jock, too. Kurt wondered how long it would take for Blaine to start hating him. He gave it 24 hours, tops. After all, what respectable person would ever like the weird gay kid with the high voice who couldn't even fend off one football player? "Sounds good." Kurt said in a strained voice.

The secretary gave Kurt a big smile. "Okay, then, Kurt. I'll show you to your room, then?"

Kurt nodded silently. He, Burt, and the secretary stood up and exited the room.

As Burt watched his wide eyed son, a mere shell of the witty, sarcastic boy he once was, walk cautiously along, he felt a fury boil on his chest. His son, his son had been... been used by that monster... that Karofsky. It had been going on for weeks and he never even noticed. How could he have ever been so stupid? How could nobody have noticed?

The secretary led them up two flights of stairs, then down a hallway, then up another flight until they reached a door with a brass plate that read room 102 - Blaine Anderson and Kurt Hummel. "We've already specialized it for you!" The secretary exclaimed in a way-too-cheery voice.

Kurt swallowed and nodded. The secretary shoved a small metal key into the lock and opened the door.

The room had 2 beds. One side of the room was covered in posters, some for different bands, and Kurt saw one for West side story. The other side was plain and bare. He supposed that was his side.

He wouldn't put up his posters here. His new roomate, Blaine Anderson, would probably make fun of them.

He looked at the secretary and forced a smile on his face. "It's great. Thank you, miss."

She smiled at him again. "You're welcome, sweetheart. Now, I'm going to leave you two to say goodbye."

She left the room. Finn and Carole had already said goodbye to him at the house. Finn (who was desperately trying to mend their relationship after the whole 'faggy lamp' debacle) had smothered him in an enormous bear hug and told him that if anyone gave him crap at Dalton to let him know so he could personally kick their ass. Kurt wasn't going to, of course, but he was touched by the gesture.

It was Finn that ended up walking in on Karofsky... well, doing _things_ to him. That's when Kurt had immidietly been pulled out of McKinley high and transferred to Dalton.

Burt gave Kurt a big hug. Kurt flinched slightly from it but did not pull away. "I'll miss you, kiddo." Burt said gruffly. "It will be good for you here. No one can do... what the others have done. There's a zero tolerance harassment policy."

Kurt just nodded against Burts shoulder. He knew better than go hope that things would be different here, but he wouldn't dissapoint his dad, when he was already paying so much money for Kurt to come here.

"I'll miss you too, dad." Kurt whispered. Burt smiled slightly and pulled away from the hug.

"I gotta go now, son. But I'll see you in a few weeks, yeah?" Kurt just nodded, already feeling like he had exhausted his word quota for the day. Burt ruffled Kurts hair, which made him scowl and flatten it back, before saying, "Bye, kiddo." And leaving the room.

Kurt sighed and sat on the unoccupied bed. Now all he had to do was wait for Blaine to come so he could make fun of Kurt, or his voice, or his taste in music, or his... well, anything, really. There usually wasn't a single aspect of Kurt's character that the jocks couldn't find a way to ridicule.

Not really knowing what else to do, Kurt started to look around the room. There were posters covering Blaine's side of the room. He seemed to be into musicals, something that was promising to Kurt. Maybe Blaine wouldn't mind so much if Kurt put up his Wicked poster.

There was also a bookshelf in the middle of the room. 2 out of the four shelves were stuffed full of books, most of them textbooks for classes, but Kurt could also see that Blaine owned the entire Harry Potter series. He smiled ruefully in spite of himself. (A/N: A very Potter musical, anyone?)

He slowly moved over to his own side of the room. It looked frighteningly dull in comparison. He wouldn't put his posters up yet, though, just in case Blaine made fun of them.

No need to give him another reason to.

Blaine walked down the hallway to his dorm, honestly a little nervous. He really did hope that Kurt liked him. He considered himself to be a pretty likable person, but there were always jerks in the world, not to mention the homophobes But Darner had said Kurt had been bullied...

He stood outside his door, which now had Kurt's name on it as well as his own. He carefully patted the top of his head, making sure no curl was out of place. He took a deep breath, straightened his jacket, and opened the door.

Kurt was sitting on the unoccupied bed already, his back to Blaine. He seemed to be staring at Blaine's posters.

Blaine cleared his throat awkwardly. "Kurt?" Kurt lept off of the bed and turned to face Blaine, and Blaine's breath caught in his throat. Kurt was... was _beautiful._

His light brown hair was slightly coiffed and pushed off of his forehead, and it looked so unbelievably soft, Blaine wanted nothing more than to run his fingers through it. He had pale, flawless skin and ruby red lips that threatened to lower Blaines speaking ability to a toddlers stutter, but the most incredible thing was his eyes. They were bright and vibrant and like nothing Blaine had ever seen before. Were they blue, or green, or grey, or what?

...But there was something _wrong_. His pale complexion was too pale, almost ghostly. His skin was tight and drawn, as if he hadn't been eating much lately. There were dark smudges under his eyes that stood out against his white skin, and he looked as though he hadn't slept in days.

Kurt's eyes widened at the sight of the boy in front of him. How had he not heard him approaching? He hoped that Blaine wasn't mad at him for snooping around the room.

Blaine seemed to be speechless and slightly out of breath, but why Kurt didn't know. Blaine took a steadying breath and said "Um... A-are you Kurt Hummel?"

Kurt nodded slowly, hesitant to speak in from of Blaine. Usually people laughed, or scoffed, or sneered when they heard his slightly high pitched voice. He hoped Blaine would stick to the yes or no questions, those were easy to answer.

"Okay, well..." having recovered from his shock at seeing the boy in front of him, Blaine cleared his throat and took on his authorative voice, or his 'dapper-dalton-boy' voice as Jeff had so eloquently nicknamed it. "My name is Blaine Anderson, your new roomate."

Another nod. Blaine wondered why the boy wasn't speaking. He looked extremly nervous.

"So, since I'm also a Dalton prefect, I'm supposed to give you a tour!" Blaine said cheerfully, determined to get him to speak. He wanted to hear Kurt's voice.

Kurt nodded again, wondering why Blaine was so happy to chaperone a broken, scrawny boy who never spoke and was stealing half of his room.

"Alright! So, should we do that now?"

Another nod.

"Alright! Well, I'll lead the way. Dalton is really beautiful. I think yours going to love it, Kurt." Blaine had a huge grin on his face, and Kurt couldn't help but smile a bit at his overly chipper roomate. Maybe things would be a bit different at Dalton.

Blaine felt his heart melt into a puddle in his shoes at the tiny smile that graced Kurt's face. This was going to be a good year, he could tell.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

 **Alright, first chapter done!**

 **So, as you clearly saw, this deals with themes of sexuap assault and rape, but I'm not sure how graphic it's going to get, considering I'm literally a baby pengiun when it comes to writing graphic things, so I'll probably feel super awkward while writing it. I'll try my best, though!**

 **This fanfic is heavily influenced by a fanfic called "sketchy relations" that I read on Scarvesandcoffee .net a few months ago. It'e very good, so I suggest you check it out. It's sadly unfinished, but I still really love it.**

 **All for now. Bye!**


	2. Chapter two - Nick and Jeff Are What?

GLEEGLEEGLEE

"So anyway, since you're a junior, you'll be spending most of your time in this building." Blaine explained, leading Kurt down the ornate halls of Dalton Acadamy. "I'm a junior as well, so I can help you get to most of your classes."

Kurt nodded, still wary but absolutely entranced by the beautiful building he was in. He felt a slight pang when he remembered how much money it was costing him to be here, but his guilt was overcome by fascination at the moment.

Blaine looked over and grinned. Kurt's eyes were wide again, but this time from wonder instead of fear. "It really is beautiful here, isn't it?" He said, looking around appriciativly.

Kurt hastily looked at the floor. Had Blaine caught him staring? He nodded, not meeting Blaine's eye.

Blaine frowned at Kurt's sudden mood change. "Alright, well down this hall is where all the main classrooms are. The science wing, the English and math rooms, French, art, you know." He explained.

He kept walking and turned down a different hallway. "Down this hall is the auditorium, cafeteria, and warblers rehersal room."

What were the warblers? Kurt wanted to ask, but decided to keep his mouth shut. He just nodded.

Now Blaine was really curious. They had been at the tour for almost half an hour, and Kurt still hadn't said a word to him. Why wasn't he speaking? Did Kurt not like him? "Hey Kurt, um, awkward question, but, um... can you speak?"

Kurt flushed and looked down at his lap. Blaine probably already thought the was some sort of freak who wouldn't even talk. "Yes." He said softly, wincing slightly.

Kurt's voice was slightly breathy, but oddly musical. Just as amazing as the rest of him. "Oh, sorry for asking. I was just curious."

Kurt looked up, surprised. No jives about his voice?

Kurt looked up at Blaine again, and wow, Blaine was entranced by his beautiful eyes all over again. Kurt's lips quirked up again. "It's fine. I just don't talk often." His voice was still soft, but a bit louder now that he knew Blaine wasnt going to make fun of him.

"Oh, that's fine! If you'd prefer not to talk, we won't make you." Blaine smiled at Kurt again - Jesus, did that kid ever _stop_ smiling? - and they continued down the hallway.

Blaine was about to turn the corner again, but a loud cry of "Blainers!" Made Blaine turn around in time to see Jeff barreling towards him.

"Jeff - " Blaine said calmly, quite used to the blonde's energetic attitude, but was interrupted by Jeff smothering him in an over enthusiastic bear hug.

Kurt's eyes widened, and he took a good several steps back before surveying the scene carefully. Was this boy about to attack Blaine? - No, it was just a hug. Did people just... hug each other around here? That was rather odd. He stayed wary around the blonde boy, who looked muscular and could very easily beat Kurt to a pulp if he wanted to.

"Jeff, please get off of me. And don't call me Blainers." Blaine said, pushing Jeff lightly off of him.

Jeff backed away, pouting. "Where have you been?" He asked.

"I got a new roomate. Jeff, meet Kurt Hummel. Kurt, this is Jeff Sterling, one of my friends." Blaine gestured to Kurt, who had backed up almost a foot and was watching Jeff with apprehension written all over his face.

"Hi, Kurt!" Jeff said cheerfully, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Kurt was quite adorable, Jeff decided. He noticed that there was something slightly... off about the boy, but Jeff couldn't put his finger on it.

Kurt smiled slightly and inclined his head. "Nice to meet you." He said quietly. There was something about Jeffs attitude that radiated energy, and Kurt couldn't help but smile.

"Anyway, where's your better half, Jeff? You two are usually attached at the hip." Blaine said, noticing the absence of Jeff's slightly calmer brunette boyfriend, Nick.

Jeff pouted again. "Better half? I'm offended by that notion! What would Nick say if he heard such lies and slander coming out of your mouth?"

"I'd say that he has some common sense left." Said an amused voice from behind them. Blaine turned around to see Nick standing there, grinning.

"Nicky!" Jeff exclaimed, barreling towards his boyfriend. Nick caught Jeff's hug with a slight _oomph!_ and grinned as Jeff kissed his cheek. "I missed you!"

"I've only been gone for fifteen minutes!" Nick laughed, running his fingers through Jeff's hair.

Kurt's jaw dropped to the floor. Nick and Jeff... were gay? And Blaine wasnt ridiculing them for it? What are they thinking, kissing on the middle of the hallway? People were going to beat them up! Kurt glanced around, but the few people in the hallway didn't seem to care that two boys were kissing for all to see. What was going on? Were things really different here?

Blaine rolled his eyes at the sappiness of his two friends, which he was quite used to by now. He looked over at Kurt, only to see that he was having a completely different reaction. Kurt's jaw was hanging open and he was staring at the couple in shock. He glanced around nervously, as if to see if anyone was watching. He still looked completely stunned.

Blaine felt his heart sink. Was Kurt... homophobic? There was generally no homophobic bullying at Dalton, but that didn't stop some prejudice idiots from sneering in the hallway. What would happen when Kurt found out that he was gay?

Well... Darner had instructed Blaine to watch Kurt, so he would just have to deal with it of Kurt was homophobic. He would still be nice.

Nick shoved Jeff off of him, still grinning, and grabbed Jeff's hand. "Hey, Blaine. Who're you?" Nick asked, eyeing the unfamiliar brunette boy.

Kurt quickly realized he was still gawking at them and quickly closed his mouth. "K-Kurt Hummel." Kurt said, still eyeing their intertwined hands.

"My new roomate." Blaine elaborated, seeing the still confused look on Nicks face. Nick smiled in comprehension. "Nice to meet you, Kurt. I hope you like it here at Dalton."

Kurt nodded. Nick grinned. "Well, good to see you, Blaine. Bye, you two." Nick and Jeff walked away, and right before they turned the hall, Kurt saw Jeff kiss Nicks forehead lightly.

Blaine saw that Kurt was staring at Nick and Jeff again. Blaine coughed awkwardly.

Kurt turned to Blaine, who was eyeing him carefully. Did Blaine not care if people were gay? He quickly asked, "Um... so they're like... a couple?"

Blaine nodded his head. "Yeah. They've been dating for about a year now."

Kurt nodded, his face unreadable. Blaine sighed. "Alright, well the only place left to go is the rec room. We'll probably get to meet Wes and David there." He led Kurt down the hallway, who had gone silent again.

They approached the door to the rec room. "Alright, this is where we hang out when we're not in our dorms. Wes and David practically live in here." Blaine opened the door.

It was less crowded, since it was Friday evening and most people were either going home for the weekend or in their dorms. Wes and David were already there, as Blaine had predicted, but so were a handful of other warblers, including Nick and Jeff, who were curled up in a corner whispering to eachother.

Kurt froze when he saw all of the people. Oh no. Oh no ohnoohno. Kurt tended to get claustrophobic when he met lots of new people. He stood in the doorway, his white knuckles clenched tightly on the door frame. What if they were like Karofsky?

There was a small chorus of "Blaine!" From around the room, and Wes said, "What are you doing here, Blaine? Don't you have prefect duties?"

"Well, yes, but I got a new roomate today." All of the eyes in the room moved to Kurt, and Kurt felt his face grow hot. Why were they all looking at him like that? Were they already judging him? "I was just showing him around. His name it Kurt."

"Nice to meet you, Kurt. Why don't you sit down?" Said David kindly. Kurt gulped slightly, but nodded. He sat stiffly on a chair that was furthest away from everyone.

Blaine sat down next to Wes and David and. "Something seems... off about Kurt." Wes said immidietly, eyeing the pale boy apprehensively. Kurt was staring at Nick and Jeff again. " He looks like he hasn't had any sleep in a week."

"Darner told me he was skittish. Something about bullying." Blaine sighed, running a hand through his carefully gelled hair. "He's barely spoken a word to me."

"He kinda looks how you looked when you first arrived here." David said, also watching Kurt. "Only... much worse somehow."

"I don't know. Darner told me to help him because his situation was 'similar to mine'." Blaine saw that Kurt was staring at Nick and Jeff again and sighed. Looks like it was time to have that conversation. "I'm gonna go talk to him."

Wes and David nodded as Blaine approached Kurt.

"Kurt?" Kurt's head snapped up, and he jumped a bit in his chair. "Oh. Hello, Blaine." He said, his eyes drifting back to Nick and Jeff.

Blaine sat down slowly next to Kurt. How should he go about this? "...Are Nick and Jeff bothering you?" He blurted out, causing Kurt to look at him, surprised.

Bothering him? "Why would they be bothering me? They've been perfectly friendly." Kurt said carefully, wondering why Blaine was asking.

"No, I mean, I just noticed you staring. Is it the whole... gay couple pda thing? Cause I can ask them to tone it down if it's making you uncomfortable..." Blaine said uncomfortably, sincerely hoped that Kurt's answer was no.

Blaine was relieved when Kurt's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and he frantically shook his head. "Oh, no no no! I'm not, I mean, I don't...!" Kurt seemed to be at a loss of what to say. "I, I mean... I was just surprised, is all."

"Surprised? Why?" Blaine said confusedly. Kurt flushed, not meeting Blaine's eye.

"Just..." Kurt hesitated, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth nervously. "...If anyone did anything like that at my old school, they'd probably end up at the bottom of a dumpster." He said softly, playing with the sleeve of his jacket. "Its just weird to see people... not caring."

Blaines eyes widened in understanding. Of course, homophobia in public schools was not shocking. He himself had been surprised when he first saw two students holding hands in the halls of Dalton and no one did anything to them. "Oh." Blaine said blankly. He suddenly felt curious. "Kurt, don't take this the wrong way, but... are you, you know, gay?"

Kurt's flush deepened. "...yeah." He whispered. His blue - green, grey? Blaine still hadn't figured it out - eyes met Blaine's again. "I do hope that's not a problem."

"Of course not!" Blaine said, hurrying to reassure Kurt. "It's... it's fine." Kurt looked extremly relieved. Blaine was about to speak again when David said from across the room, "so, it's time we get to know Blaine's new roomate!"

All of the eyes in the room went to Kurt again. David pulled up his chair so he was facing across from Kurt. Wes followed suit, then Nick and Jeff, then suddenly a dozen warblers were crowded around Kurt, looking at him expectantly.

"Um..." Kurt stammered. Did they really want to get to know him? Or did they only want to find out his interests so they could tease then maliciously? He stayed silent, hoping that someone would change the subject.

No such luck.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

 **Alskdjfhg I didn't like this chapter very much, but I hope you guys enjoyed it anyway!**

 **Anyway, I don't really have a _plan_** **for this story, so expect some pretty inconsistant updates.**

 **That's all for now! See you in the next chapter!**


	3. Chapter three - Flashbacks

**Warning: Somewhat graphic description of sexual assault in this chapter**

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Kurt suddenly found himself being bombarded with questions.

"What school are you from?"

"Where were you born?"

"What's your favorite color?"

"Do you like music? Actually, stupid question, everyone likes music. What kind of music do you like?"

"Can you sing?"

"If you could choose one song lyric to describe your life, what would it be?" Thad got odd looks for that one. "What?" He shrugged. "It's a valid question!"

Kurt looked at all of the speakers, completely overwhelmed. Why were all of these people so interested in getting to know him? Why weren't they making fun of him? He looked to Blaine with a silent plea for help.

Blaine caught on. "Guys! Guys, shut up!" He said loudly, making the questions cease. "Give Kurt a second, you're overwhelming him. Then you idiots can ask questions." He looked at Kurt, grinning. "Be warned, Kurt. Wes and David can get pretty up close and personal."

Panic set in. What if they asked why he transferred? What would he say then? "Um... Well, my n-name is Kurt Hummel." He started nervously, acutely aware of his stuttering. "I'm a junior, I t-transferred from McKinley high school, and, um... I suppose to answer some of your questions, I was born in Lima Ohio, and um... Well, I kinda like listening to broadway music..." He trailed off, embarrassed. Was anything gayer than broadway music?

Broadway? Could Kurt get any more perfect? "What's your favorite broadway musical?" Nick asked, also looking excited. Blaine wasnt the only broadway freak in the warblers.

"...Wicked." Kurt said, smiling slightly, glad that no one was teasing him. "But Rent is also good."

"Rent's my favorite too!" Blaine beamed. He was glad that Kurt seemed to have relaxed a little bit and was talking more.

But, of course, it couldn't last.

"So, why'd you come to Dalton?" Wes asked casually, kicking his feet up into David's lap. David scowled and pushed them off, then dodged as Wes aimed a kick at him.

Kurt froze. Oh no. Oh no. He couldn't tell them why he transferred! Not when they were just getting to be friendly! They were going to find out what a weakling he was! His breath quickened and his eyes went wide.

Blaine, who knew the signs of an oncoming panic attack all too well, looked at Kurt with concern. "Kurt? Are you alright?"

Kurt didn't seem to hear him. Blaine put a cautious hand on Kurt's shoulder, only to have it jerked away.

 _Kurt was walking down the hallways of McKinley high, wearing a long turtleneck to hide the... marks... that Karofsky had made on his neck yesterday. No one had questioned the odd wardrobe choice, which just proved that no one really even noticed him anymore. He was contemplating just skipping third period to go to the bathroom and cry when he felt a harsh hand on his shoulder._

 _"Hummel." The voice growled, and Kurt froze. Karofsky. "Come on."_

 _"Pleaze, not again," Kurt whispered, already feeling the tears welling up beneath his eyes. "Please, Karofsky..."_

 _"I wasn't giving you a choice, fag." He whispered harshly. "Come on."_

"No!" Kurt said, wrenching away from Karofsky's - _No, Blaine's_ \- hand on his shoulder. "Don't touch me!"

"I..." Blaine opened his mouth, unsure how the conversation went so wrong so fast. The entire group was staring at Kurt, at a loss for words.

"What's wrong, Kurt? I only asked why you transferred." Wes said, trying to keep order and find out what was wrong.

This was apparently the wrong thing to say. Kurt gasped slightly as he lept to his feet, his breathing erratic. "I'm... I'm sorry, I have to go..." He said, desperatly trying to fight off a flashback. He practically ran out of the room.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

As Kurt ran for his dorm room, tears started to cascade down his face. Why had he fallen to pieces like that? Wes had only asked him a question! God, he was so stupid...

Any hope he had of making friends with any of the boys had quickly shattered. Why would they want anything to do with him now? Maybe Blaine would even request that they not be roomate anymore...

Kurt wrenched open the door to his room and sat on the bed, wiping the tears tracks from his face. He was not going to let anyone see him cry.

He was going to be strong.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Blaine yelled furiously at Wes, who was staring at his shoes and looking extremely guilty.

"I... I only asked him a question." Wes said, looking perplexed. "How was I supposed to know he would fall to pieces like that!"

Blaine rolled his eyes. "He didn't 'fall to pieces', he had a panic attack. I used to get them all the time." Blaine looked at the warblers, most of whom were still looking extremely confused. "Darner told me that Kurt had a hard time at his old school." He said to the room. "There was probably some homophobia involved, since Kurt told me that he was gay."

All of the warblers gave knowing nods. A lot of mid semester transfer students were victims of bullying and homophobia.

"But his reaction... it definatly seemed like more than homophobia." Nick said worriedly, squeezing Jeff's hand absently with worry. Jeff wrapped his arms around his shorter boyfriend and kissed his foregead lightly.

"I know, I was thinking that too." Blaine sighed. "But I can't imagine what it could be. So you guys need to be extra careful around him, and not ask him triggering questions." He added, looking at Wes pointedly. Wes hung his head guiltily. "I'm gonna go see if he's in our room." With that, Blaine stalked off.

Yes, Blaine remembered what a nervous wreck he used to be when he transferred to dalton. But somehow this seemed like more than just a case of bullying... But what else could it be?

Before Blaine knew it, he was outside their dorm room. He pressed his ear anxiously to the door, hoping that he might be able to hear if Kurt had gone inside before he opened the door. He heard silence for a few moments, then a slight sniff. Blaine quickly opened the door to see Kurt sitting on the bed again, back to him.

"Kurt?" Kurt whipped around. His eyes were slightly red, but there was no evidence of any tears.

Kurt flushed and looked at the floor. "Blaine." He said quietly.

"Hey, listen." Blaine said quickly. "Wes wanted to apologize. He didn't mean to trigger a panic attack. He's really sorry."

Kurt looked up, surprised. An apology? A real one? This wasn't what he was expecting at all. "...How did he know it was a panic attack?" Kurt asked curiously.

"Because I used to get them. And so did Jeff. Actually, he still does sometimes." Blaine said. "We'll do whatever it takes to help you feel comfortable here."

Kurt smiled, a small but genuine smile. People here really seemed to care. And Blaine... was so nice to him. "Thank you, Blaine." Was all he said. But Blaine heard the quake in his voice

Blaine smiled back. "Any time, Kurt."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

 _"Please... stop..."_

 _The dream was blurry. Kurt coudn't make out his surroundings, he could only feel the sheer terror as he felt Karofsky on top of him. He couldn't breathe, or move, he was trapped. Kurt struggled helplessly, begging it to please, stop..._

 _Karofsky just growles in response as he pushed himself further into the frail body below him. Kurt let out an agonized moan of pain and continued to struggle._

 _"Stop_ moving, _Hummel." Karofsky growled into his ear. "You would make this so much easier for yourself if you would just_ sit still..."

Kurt jolted awake, gasping and panting. He stared wildly around, struggling against the soft blankets on his bed that had entangled him. Where was he? The bed was unfarmiliar... Kurt looked to the side and saw the sleeping body of Blaine Anderson across the room.

Oh. Right. He was at Dalton. Kurt let out a shaky breath and pushed his sweaty hair out of eyes, making an extra effort to be quiet as possible. He didn't want anyone figuring out about his PTSD induced nightmare, especially his new roomate.

Kurt checked the alarm clock by his bed, attempting to make the bleary numbers come into focus. 7:47. Kurt sighed. No use trying to get more sleep, Even though it was a Saturday, Kurt knew he would not be able to sleep in any more.

Kurt stood up unsteadily and walked to the bathroom to take a shower. He quickly took off his pajamas, pointedly avoiding looking in the mirror so he wouldn't have to see the bruises, scrapes, and various bite marks that littered his back and neck.

He stepped in the shower and turned the hot water up all the way. The water burned his skin and turned it a bright pink, but it felt good. Cleansing.

Before it started happening, Kurt usually sang loudly in the shower until someone (usually his dad) told him to stop killing mother nature and get out of the shower because dear-god-stop-the-screeching-that's-coming-out-of-your-mouth.

Kurt never sang anymore. It hurt too much. He doubted he would even be able to anymore.

He stepped out of the shower, and took a moment to appreciate how the steam billowed out of the shower and fogged up the windows. He spent a lot of time focusing on small things these days, such as the way the wind might blow out the small puff of a dandelion, or the delicate ark of the fountain outside of Dalton Academy. It was those things of subtle beauty that made him happy these days.

There wasn't much else to appreciate, after all.

Kurt got dressed in a long sleeve dark blue shirt (it was quite hot, but Kurt still had a few bruises on his arm that hadn't quite healed yet) and a pair of black pants, deciding that he would forgoe his more bold wardrobe choices.

He stepped out of the bathroom and was surprised to see Blaine was awake, staring in his vanity mirror and putting large quantities of hair gel in his dark curls. The old Kurt would have been horrified at how much chemicals were probably damaging his hair, but the new Kurt couldn't care less. Let Blaine damage his hair if he wants to.

Blaine turned around, patting the last of his curls into place. He beamed when he saw Kurt. "Hey, there you are!" He said brightly, making Kurt smile slightly. "You wanna head down to breakfast? Nick and Jeff are probably already down there, but Wes and David aren't really morning people."

Kurt nodded, and they both set off across the hall.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

 **So, here's chapter three! I realize that the chapters are really short, but I promise that they'll get longer as time goes on. (Or at least I'll try...)**

 **How did I do with characterization? I feel like I made Kurt a bit OOC in this chapter, but I wasn't really sure... anyway, let me know how I'n doing! Even if you think it sucks, just let me know. I'll see you later!**


	4. Chapter four - No Bullying Policy

Blaine attempted to keep up a consistent chatter as he led Kurt to the cafeteria to get breakfast. He talked about everything he could think of; classes, the teachers, The Lima Bean (the coffee shop near dalton), Wes' tendancies to hit people with his famous gavel, his various warbler friends. Kurt appeared to be listening intently, and he would nod occasionally, but he was not speaking at all. He looked a bit nervous.

" - and anyway, all of the teachers have had to seperate Nick and Jeff, cause their PDA and disgusting sweetness was 'giving people cavities.'" Blaine said with a nod, internally cheering when Kurt's lips quirked up in an amused smile. "Even Wes had to seperate them during Warbler meetings. But everyone loves them, really."

Warblers... It was the second time Blaine had brought up the Warblers, and Kurt still had no idea what they were. He was dying to ask, but his stomach was slightly queasy with nerves about seeing everyone in the cafeteria, and he didn't much feel like talking.

"Anyway, here we are." Blaine said, stopping outside of a pair of open double doors that led to a large cafeteria. It was largely similar to the cafeteria at McKinley, except it was much quieter, and Kurt noted with relief that there was no slushie machine in the corner of the room. But it was still far too crowded for his liking, and he could feel all of the eyes in the room all set on him, like magnets.

Why were they all staring at him? He felt his breath quickening at an alarming rate. His palms were sweating and he hastily wiped them off on his bluejeans. _What's wrong with you?_ He mentally chided himself. _It's just a cafeteria, you idiot. Pull yourself together!_

Blaine glanced over at Kurt and noticed how wide-eyed and uncomfortable the countertenor had gotten. Blaine wanted nothing more than to grab the boy's hand to comfort him, but because of Kurt's reaction yesterday, he knew that this was probably a very bad idea.

Instead, he said, "We can go sit with Nick and Jeff if you want. They aren't with anyone else right now."

Kurt out a small sigh of relief. Even if he did completly embarrass himself in front of Nick and Jeff the last time he saw them, at least he wouldn't have to meet anyone new. And Nick and Jeff seemed nice enough...

Kurt gave a small nod. "Okay." He said softly.

Blaine grinned. "Alright, follow me!" He said cheerfully, marching exaggeratedly across the cafeteria, and Kurt couldn't help but let out a small giggle as Blaine led him to the table where Nick and Jeff were sitting.

Nick caught sight of them first, and grinned. "Blaine! Kurt!" He said loudly, causing Kurt to flinch slightly and unconsiously move a bit closer to Blaine. "Come on over here, guys." He said, waving them over. Blaine sat down across from Nick and patted the seat next to him, looking expectantly at Kurt.

Kurt sat down next to Blaine, avoiding Nick and Jeff's eyes, looking a bit embarrased. His glasz eyes flicked nervously up to meet Nick's, before he hastily looked down at the table again.

Nick frowned at this behavior. There was something horribly wrong with the way Kurt was acting, and the way he seemed to shrink into himself when people were looking at him. It was behavior that was so farmiliar, yet so... different.

He remembered when Jeff had first transferred to Dalton and became his roomate. Jeff was an emergancy transfer, and had been nervous and skittish, much like Kurt was right now. Nick later found out this was because Jeff had been heavily harassed and bullied when he was at his old school.

Yes, Kurt definatly had all the signs of someone who was bullied. But there was something else there, something he couldn't quite put his finger on, and it scared the shit out of him.

Instead of voicing these fears, he just smiled at Kurt. "Hey, Kurt. Glad to see you're feeling better from yesterday." He said.

"Yeah!" Jeff said feverantly, drumming his fingers excitedly on the table. "We're sorry that we scared you. Meeting a bunch of people at once can be pretty overwhelming."

Kurt's eyes darted up to meet Jeff's again. The blonde's expression was so earnestly apologetic that Kurt couldn't help but smile back at him. "Thanks." He whispered. "I'm sorry for reacting the way I did." Kurt was rewarded with a bright smile in return.

There was a beat of comfortable silence before Blaine cleared his throat and said, "Well, I'm gonna go get our coffee." Blaine stood up. "Kurt, you want any?"

Kurt looked up, surprised that Blaine was even asking. Blaine wanted to get him coffee? He smiled. "Coffee sounds great. Thanks, Blaine." He said, unexplainably touched by this small gesture. Blaine nodded and left the table.

"So," Nick said comfortably, clasping his hands on the table and leaning foward slightly, "How are you liking Dalton so far, Kurt?" He asked.

Kurt contemplated for a moment, trying thinking of a way he could answer the question in as little words as he could. "...It's really beautiful here." He said finally. "And everyone seems nice so far. Blaine's been helpful."

"Yeah, Blaine's the dapper Dalton prince." Nick said, rolling his eyes with a grin. "Dalton really is a great school. Curriculum is a bit more challenging, but that's to be expected."

"We have lots of mid-semester transferrs, because of the no-harassment policy." Jeff added. He had his elbow propped on Nick's shoulder and was absently playing with a lock of his dark hair. "I only transferred her last year, but it felt like home in no time."

Kurt gave a half-smile and looked at the table again. "So..." He asked uncertianly, looking back up to meet their eyes, "The...zero tolerance thing... people take it pretty seriously?"

Nick nodded. "Anyone who harasses someone here gets a minimum of a three-day suspension, if it's their first time being marked up."

Kurt nodded, thinking deeply. Maybe the zero-tolerance policy really did work... would things really be different here?

"Alright!" Blaine said as he came back up to the table, a small tray with four coffee cups on it. "Here's your usuals, Nick and Jeff." He said, sliding the cups across the table. He then handed a cup to Kurt. "I got you a latte, Kurt. That okay?"

Kurt smiled at Blaine. "...Yes. Thank you, Blaine." He said. He brought the coffee to his lips and took a small sip. It was fresh coffee, and not the instant stuff that usually sold near McKinley, and it was delicious.

Kurt took a longer drink from the coffee as Blaine sat back down next to him. Blaine took a drink of his own coffee. Blaine gave him a bright smile before turning to Nick and Jeff and striking up a conversation.

Kurt was only half-listening as Jeff relayed a story of a girl at the mall shamelessly hitting on him. He had developed a tendency to zone out when people talked for long periods of time, because ever since _it_ started happening, he had started having many long conversations with lot of different people; his dad, Mr. Schue, Principal Figgins, the police, and his therapist, Amelia, whom he hated with a passion. He that found it was easier to just get lost in his own head than activly participate in everything that was going on.

Unfortunatly, his head was not always the safest place to go.

"Kurt?" Blaine said, looking over at him in concern. Kurt had gone silent, and was staring into space with a glazed look in his glasz eyes. He didn't appear to be listening to a word they were saying. "Kurt!" He repeated a little louder, gently poking the other boy on the shoulder.

Kurt flinched violently, cringing a few inches away from Blaine. Blaine was staring at him with an alarmed expression. From the tone of Blaine's voice, it sounded like he had said his name more than once. "Sorry. Um... y-yeah?" He asked.

Blaine still looked a bit put-off, but he plastered a smile on his face. "We were going to go out to lunch today, and we were wondering if you wanted to go with us?" He asked hopefully.

Kurt blinked. They were inviting him to lunch? He thought that the other boys had merely been tolerating him because he was the new kid. They actually wanted to hang out with him?

Kurt desperatly wanted to go, but he hadn't been anywhere as public as a resteraunt ever since _it_ happened. He had a tendancy to become claustrophobic around lots of people, and thay made him more prone to panic attacks. He was barely holding it together in the cafeteria right now, and that was only because Blaine was sitting right next to him.

Kurt flashed them a sort of apologetic smile. "I-I'd love to, but I can't today." He said. "I still have to... settle into my dorm and stuff."

Blaine's face fell. "Oh." He said sadly, looking down at the table.

Feeling far too responsible for the kicked-puppy look on Blaine's face, Kurt hastily added, "B-but I'll still see you at dinner, right?" He hoped ge wasn't overstepping too much. Blaine, for whatever reason, may enjoy his company, but he had no idea if the others liked him.

Blaine smiled happily again. "Right. Of course." He said. He flashed Kurt a bright grin, and Kurt's felt odd butterflies in his stomach. He decided to blame them on his nerves instead of Blaine's smile. "So, Jeff, what happened next with that girl?"

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Yeah, so... remember when I said the chapters were going to be longer? I lied.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry! But I like to have uploads fairly consistently (once or twice a week at most) and to do that I have to make the chapters pretty short. If I tried to make this chapter any longer, it would never be uploaded.

Yeah, it took me forever to get this chapter good enough that I was satisfied with it. The next chapter will probably have some Santana and Brittany in it! :DD I really like AU storied where Santana and Brittany are sort of protective of Kurt, so there will be some of that in this story. Expect some brotherly Furt and Puckurt moments in the future as well.

See you soon!


	5. Chapter five- Boos and Bruises

Kurt Hummel was bored.

He didn't wish he had gone with Blaine and the others to lunch instead of staying behind. Blaine was an enjoyable person to be around (though he could not fathom why Blaine actually enjoyed spending time with him) but there was only so much social interacrion that Kurt could take in one day. He was glad to have a break from people for a little while.

But he was still bored.

He sighed and flopped onto his bed, where his box of half-unpacked belongings was still resting. The box bounced, then slowly teetered on the edge of his bed until it fell to the floor, spilling its contents all over the floor.

Kurt sighed again and slowly sat up, scooping his belongings back into the box.

He came across a picture that was still in the box and stopped short.

It was him, with all of the new directions. They had just won sectionals, and were holding their trophy up to the camera in delight, looking shocked and proud that theu had actually won something.

He looked with an aching feeling in his heart at his former friends. Ever since it happened, most of the New Directions had been scared to talk to him, with the exeption of Finn, of course. They weren't mean to him, exactly, but instead any time they talked to him theu treated him like a ticking time bomb, as though he might explode if he talked to them for too long. That was if they spoke to him at all. Most of them didn't.

Surprisingly, it was Puck who became one of Kurt's closest friends after he stopped coming to school. When the muscular teen first accompanied Finn when he came home, Kurt was extremley reluctant to talk to him. After all, when had Puck ever been nice to Kurt in the past?

But instead of teasing Kurt, Puck had become bizarrly protective of him. He scowled at people in the hallways who were whispering about him in the hallways, and he punched a football player in the nose when he shoved Kurt into a locker (Kurt had scolded him for a good five minutes after this, but he was touched by the gesture).

But there was something different about Puck; he was never careful, never tactful around other people. He never treated Kurt any differently after it, and since Kurt was staying with Finn, Kurt had lots of opportunities to talk to Puck in those long periods of not-going-to-school.

Kurt was interrupted from his musings when his laptop started to ring loudly, signaling that someone wanted to video chat. He slowly walked over to his desk and openes the laptop to see who was calling and smiled.

He accepted the chat and found himself staring at the faces of Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce, who were sitting on Brittany's bed. "Hey, Porcelian!" She said with a smirk.

Santana had become another one of his unlikely friends. Santana hadn't explained to him exactly why she started talking to him in the first place, but it was something along the lines of "Once a cheerio, always a cheerio, Porcelain." and then they were suddenly friends.

But Kurt could definatly say that he liked being friends with Santana. She was one of the only people thay he could be The Old Kurt with. Santana never expected anything from him, and she never asked him if he 'wanted to talk' about anything. They were just...friends. It was easy with Santana. And of course, when one was friends with Santana, they also got Brittany.

"Hi, dolphin!" Brittany said with a cheery wave and a smile.

Kurt smiled back at the adorable blonde cheerleader. "Hey, boo. Hi, Santana." He said to both of them. "What's up?"

"'What's up?' That's the only greeting that you're going to give your best friend in the entire world?" Santana said, feigning hurt.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "So sorry. I meant..." Kurt put his hand to his forehead and put on his most dramatic damsel-in-distress voice. "'Oh greetings, my dearest, beautiful, Santana, I've missed you dearly in the..." Kurt checked his watch. "...47 hours since I last saw you, my darling! Oh, Santana, I miss you so, so much, oh, I pine for you in my sleep, Santana! However have I function in this new world without you, Santana?'"

Santana smiled. "I see that those preppy Dalton boys haven't sucked all of the humor out of you yet." She said amusedly. "But it's only a matter of time."

"How are you liking your new school, Kurtie?" Brittany asked, wrapping her arms tightly around a pillow that was next to her and crossing her legs. "Did you meet any new dolphins?"

Kurt smiled fondly at the the cheerio. "Yes, Britt, my new school is great so far. And I've talked to a few people."

"Everyone's treating you right, Porcelian?" Santana said, absently stroking a large cat that was on Brittany's bed. "Because if anyone is hurting my Number One Gay, they'll have me to answer to." She cracked her knuckled pointedly.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Everyone is perfectly friendly, San." He reassured her. "My dormmate is out for lunch, so I've got my room to myself for now."

"Awesome." Santana said. "Oh, you will not _believe_ what Berry did today."

Kurt grinned and layed down on his stomache. "Tell me _all_ of the drama."

Santana went on with a long, winding tale about Rachel finding out how Finn had slept with Santana the year before ("I personally don't know why Berry was so worked up." Santana said idly, examining her perfectly manicured nailes. "Finn is honestly _not_ that great in bed.") so Rachel, to get revenge, made out with Puck. But then Rachel felt guilty about it and told Finn, and then Finn broke up with Rachel, and now they're broken up again.

Kurt sighed when Santana was finally finished with her story. "It looks like not much has changed since I left, huh?" He said, only half-faking the exasperation in his voice.

"Nope." Santana said, rolling her eyes. "Berry is still obnoxious, Finn is still an idiot, Sam's lips are still way too big, and Artie's still in hopelessly and tragically in love with Tina."

"Artie's in love with Tina? I thought Artie was in love with me." Brittany interjected, a confused look gracing her face. Well, more confused than usual, anyway.

Santana sighed and patted Brittany on the shoulder. "Artie does like you, Britt. But he also still kind of likes Tina, because they dated last year. Do you remember?"

Brittany's eyebrows furrowed for a moment, before her face lit up and she smiled. "Oh! I remember now." She said, looking proud of herself.

Kurt smiled happily as he watched Santana and Brittany interact. It was nice to see that nothing had changed.

Nothing but him.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

"So, did you talk to Kurt today?" David asked Blaine as they all walked back to the dorms after they finished lunch. Wes and David seemed very dissapointed thag Kurt didn't come to lunch, and Wes had somehow been left with the impression that Kurt was mad at him.

"Yeah, of course I did, we sleep in the same room." Blaine said, puzzled. "Why?"

"Is he coming to dinner?" Wes asked worriedly, absently waving at a few freshmen he had passed on the way to his room. "I wanted to apologize for scaring him earlier."

"Kurt's not mad at you, I think." Blaine said, scratching the back of his head. "Just a bit frazzled. And yes, he'll be at dinner."

Wes smiled, looking pleased. "Good." They stopped at the end of Wes and David's hallway. "Bye, guys." David said, giving them all a departing wave before he and Wes turned the corner.

The moment they were gone, Nick, Jeff, and Blaine turned and started to walk down to their dormotories.

Nick was very concerned about Kurt. He had spent their entire lunch completly lost in thought, his head going through all of the possible solutions of what exactly could be wrong with their mysterious friend. And, the more he thought about how Kurt was acting, the more he realized that some of Kurt's behaviors were something that wasn't normal symtoms of bullying.

He was jolted out of his thoughts when he felt Jeff's fingers slide through his own and squeeze his hand tightly. "Nick?" He said worriedly. "Are you alright? You've been sort of quiet all day."

Nick sighed and ran his thumb over the back of Jeff's hand. "...I was thinking about Kurt." He said hesitantly.

This quickly caught the attention of Blaine. "Kurt? What about him?" He asked quickly.

"I'm worried that... that it's more than just a case of bullying that's making him act the way he is." Nick said, looking at the floor as he continued to put one foot in front of the other.

Blaine scrunched up his eyebrows. "What else could it be, Nick?" He asked.

"I was wondering... maybe..." Nick looked like he was struggling with himself, "Do you think his parents are abusive?"

Blaine blinked. This was not what he was expecting Nick to say. "What? Why would you say that?" Blaine asked.

"There's actually a lot of evidence, if you think about it." Jeff interjected quietly, making Nick look at him in surprise. "He's quiet and withdrawn, which are both symptoms of abusive parents. He flinched when you put your hand on his shoulder yesterday, Blaine. And..." Jeff hesitated, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth.

"What is it, Jeff?" Nick asked gently.

"... I didn't want to bring this up," Jeff said sadly, "because it's not really any of my buisness, but this morning at breakfast... he lifted up his collar a little bit, and I saw a bruise on his neck that looked a lot like fingers." Blaine and Nick both gasped. "And the way he walks, all stiffly and stuff, it looks like he's just... in constant pain, all of the time."

Stunned silence met the end of Jeff's analysis.

"How... how did you notice all of this, Jeff?" Nick asked quietly.

"I notice a lot of things that other people don't." Jeff responded. "I talk a lot, which makes people think that I don't notice things, but I do. I see a lot of things that other people don't."

"Just... keep an eye on him, okay Blaine?" Nick said worriedly, squeezing Jeff's hand again. "I'm really worried about him. And if what Jeff and I are saying is true, then..."

"Of course I will." Blaine said, patting Nick on the shoulder. "I'll be careful, I promise. I'll look out for him."

"...Good." Nick said, letting out a huff of air and glancing around. They were right outside of Blaine's dorm. "Jeff and I are gonna head back to our dorm." They turned, gave Blaine a small wave, and walked away.

Blaine was about to open the door to his room when he heard an unfarmiliar voice on the other side. He frowned. He didn't want to eavsedrop, but...

"You let me know if anyone is being rude to you, Porcelian." The voice said. It was a female voice. It was slightly rough and grated, so Blaine guessed Kurt must be on the phone or something. The voice was harsh, but it had a slightly fond note in it.

He heard Kurt's voice reply. "Absolutly not, Santana. Much as it would be amusing, I'm not going to let you go all Lima heights adjacent on anyone at Dalton." Blaine blinked. He had never heard Kurt say so many words in one sentence, and he wasn't stuttering at all.

He heard a second voice, another female; "But... why would anyone ever be mean to Kurtie?" The girl's voice was soft and laced with confusion. "He's super pretty, has soft baby hands, and he can sing really well." ... _baby hands?_

"Don't worry about it, boo." Kurt said in a soothing voice, one that someome might use to talk to a child. "No one is going to be mean to me."

"We'll see about that, Porcelian." What the hell did 'porcelian' mean? "I have to go now, coach Sue is making us do weekend practices now. Bye, Kurt."

"Bye, Dolphin!"

"Bye, San. Bye, Britt." Kurt's voice said.

The call seemed to be over, so Blaine slowly opened the door. "Kurt?"

Kurt wheeled around on his bed, snapping his laptop quickly shut as he did so, eyes wide. When he saw who it was, he relaxed a little bit. "Blaine. Hi." He said nervously, self consiously smoothing his perfectly coiffed hair. "Um... you're back from lunch."

"So I am." Blaine said with a soft smile, moving to sit on the edge of the bed next to Kurt. He saw Kurt flinch slightly when he sat, but Kurt made no other movement. "Who were you talking to?" When Kurt didn't answer, Blaine quickly said, "I mean, sorry, it's not really my buisness."

A smile tugged at the corner of Kurt's lips and he turned to smile at Blaine. Blaine felt his heart stutter when he saw Kurt's beautiful eyes pierce him all over again. Would Kurt always have this effect on him? "It's fine." Kurt said quietly. "It was just a few friends from my old school. Santana and Brittany."

"Oh, your old school is McKinley, right?" Kurt immidietly went stiff, and he nodded slowly, fighting to keep control of his breathing.

Blaine noticed this, and decided to drop the subject, for now. But he was more suspicious than ever.

What was wrong with Kurt?

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Yaay, new chapter! I'm having so much fun writing this story, and I'm glad that people like it, even if it's only a few.

I'd like to give a special thanks to grlnxtdr29, they've reviewed every chapter I've written so far. She has written several wonderful Glee fanfics, so I suggest you check them out. My personal favorite by them is "Jar of Secrets" and it takes place at Dalton acadamy. Go check them out!

But I still really want more reviews! A few more people are following my story now, so that mean maybe a few more people will review... please? *puppy dog eyes*

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. See you soon!

Edit: I just realized that my phone marked this story as "complete". It is NOT complete, but I tried to change it and it didn't work. But this story is not complete yet, just letting you know until i can figure out how to change it :))


	6. Chapter six - Apologies, Apologies

Kurt spent the next few hours that he had before dinner scrolling through his phone aimlessly, looking for internet rabbit holes to fall down so he could possibly forget about his problems for a little while. He watched a few cat videos on Youtube, which he felt were way too cute for his current mood, then a video that Santana sent him of her practicing the song "Valarie" for the upcoming sectionals. She was very good, but Kurt was surprised that Rachel was giving up her moment in the spotlight. According to Santana, Mr Schue had to practically pry the solo out of her stubby-fingered hands. Typical Rachel, he thought, more with exasperation than any type of fondness. He doubted that he could ever feel any type of fondness for Rachel Berry.

But during these few hours, he was constantly hyper-aware of the silent presence across the room.

Blaine.

Blaine was sitting at his desk across from Kurt's, scribbling something down on a piece of paper. Occasionally, Blaine would pick up the paper, study it critically for a few moments, then sigh, crumple it up, and toss it into the trashcan, starting the process again with a new piece of paper. A few of his curls had sprung out of his gel helmet, and he looked very frustrated.

Kurt was very curious as to what on Earth Blaine was doing, but decided not to bother him about it. Blaine looked like he was in deep concentracion.

So Kurt just stayed on the internet and waited for the dreaded moment where he would have to go meet everyone at dinner.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Blaine sighed as he trashed yet another version of the song he was attempting to write. He almost had it, but something wasn't quite right about it. He couldn't figure out what it was, but the song wasn't good enough yet. He would just have to keep working.

Blaine's eyes quickly flicked up from his desk to steal another glance at Kurt. Kurt was still laying on his bed and scrolling through his phone. It was the most relaxed that Blaine had ever seen the countertenor, almost as if he had finally let his guard down, at least for a few seconds.

He watched as Kurt raised up a hand to scratch his nose, noticing that his sleeve rid up a bit as he did so. Blaine frowned when he saw a dark purple splotch on Kurt's wrist, and it was shaped...like a handprint?

Why was there a bruise on Kurt's wrist? It looked to deliberate to be natural causes. Could it be...?

Kurt's eyes flicked up to look at Blaine, and Blaine hastily looked back at his desk, not wanting Kurt to notice him staring.

Where did that bruise come from?

Blaine looked at his clock and started. It was 5:37; they had eight minutes to get to dinner.

"Kurt?" Blaine said quickly, causing Kurt to jump slightly and hurriedly jolt out of the lying-down position his body was in.

Kurt mentally smacked himself. It's just Blaine, you don't have to jump like an idiot. "Yeah?" He said softly.

"Are you ready to go to dinner?"

Kurt gulped, biting his lip nervously. "...Y-yeah, sure." He said, carefully smoothing out the nonexistant wrinkles in his comforter.

"Alright!" Blaine said, flashing Kurt a bright smile. He extended his hand to Kurt to help him stand up.

Kurt stared at the hand in surprise, as if he didn't quite know what to do with it. After only a moment of hesitation, he carefully put his hand inside Blaine's and allowed Blaine to help him up. Blaine paused for a moment and gave Kurt's hand a small, reassuring squeeze before they exited the room and started walking down the hall.

Kurt was surprised that Blaine didn't retract his hand, even when they were walking in front of people. Wasn't Blaine worried about what other people would think? Kurt glanced around uneasily. The few people that were in the hallway did not seem to be looking at them.

Blaine saw Kurt glance around nervously, as if he expected someone to jump out and attack them at any second, and something twisted in his heart. He instictivly tightened his hand protectivly over Kurt's, and was rewarded with a bashful smile.

Blaine would admit it: he definatly haurbored a small crush on the mysterious boy, the kind you get after talking to someone after a few hours. He had no clue what it waa, but something about Kurt drew him in. He was going to be there for Kurt.

They entered the cafeteria, hands still entwined. It was a lot more crowded than it was at breakfast. Kurt swallowed nervously.

"Come on, Kurt." Blaine said, gently pulling Kurt's hand to the buffet counter. "Let's get some food."

"Um..." Kurt said, "I-I'm not really hungry..." Kurt was feeling slightly queasy and didn't know if he could stomache any food at the moment

Blaine furrowed his eyebrows. Didn't Kurt skip lunch? "...Kurt, have you eaten anything at all today?" He asked worriedly.

"Um...no?" Kurt said nervously. "I... I guess I forgot." It was true. Sometimes Kurt would get so lost in his own head that he wouldn't do anything for hours on end, just lie in his bed and stare at the ceiling, perfectly still and silent.

Blaine's frowned deepened. "Come on, Kurt, you gotta eat something." He said encouragingly, detatching his hand from Kurt's and gesturing to the wide selection of food. "I don't want you to starve to death."

Why did Blaine even care? "Okay, fine." He said quietly, grabbing a container of salad and some balsamic vinegerette. Salad was easy. Salad he could do.

He was rewarded with a bright grin from Blaine as he grabbed a tray with pasta and breadsticks. "Great. Now we can sit down." Blaine gestured to a table at the end of the cafeteria, where Wes, David, Nick, and Jeff were all sitting, chatting. Jeff spotted them from across the room and gave them a cheery wave. Kurt smiled slightly and waved back.

"Let's go sit." Kurt followed Blaine to the table. Blaine sat next to David, and Kurt sat next to Blaine.

"Hey, Kurt!" Said Wes, giving Kurt a big, slightly guilty grin. "I'm sorry. For - you know - scaring you yesterday. I shouldn't have pried like that."

Was everybody going to apologize to him today? "It's alright, Wes." Kurt said, giving Wes his now-signature half smile. "You didn't know."

Wes looked very relieved, flashing the countertenor another quick grin before striking up a conversation with Jeff.

Kurt picked at his salad as he listened to the various conversations around the table. Most of it rushed around his brain, creating a large jumble of words and incomplete thoughts in his head. That tended to happen to him nowadays. But one conversation between Blaine and Wes caught his attention.

" - left it in my room _again_ , Blaine, honestly. I should just buy a guitar stand because it's in my room so often." Wes said, shaking his head. "If you leave it in my room again, I _will_ break it."

"Wes, if you lay a _finger_ on my guitar, I will personally castrate you." Blaine said threateningly.

Wes snorted. "I would be a lot more scared if you weren't half a head shorter than me, Blaine."

"Blaine, you play guitar?" Kurt interjected without thinking, then winced, cursing his mouth for speaking on its own accord.

"Yeah, he does." David cut in cheerfully, throwing a friendly arm around Blaine's shoulder. "He also plays piano. Serious triple threat, right here. Warbler's are lucky to have him."

"Alright, alright, enough." Blaine said good-naturedly, shoving David's arm off of his shoulder. "Don't falsly advertise me as some great musical prodigy, David. I'm not that amazing."

Warblers... Kurt had yet to find out what these 'Warblers' were. "Um, guys, what are the War - "

"Mister Hummel?" A deep voice interrupted him from behind, causing him to jump violently and turn around. He was staring into the face of Principal Darner.

"Um... yes sir?" He asked nervously. Was he in trouble already?

Darner must have seen the look on Kurt's face, because he chuckled and said, "Don't worry, mister Hummel, you are not in trouble. Someone is outside, saying that they wanted to visit you, a boy claiming to be a friend of yours. I would just let him in, but I just wanted to be sure that..." Darner trailed off, scratching his neck uncertianly. _Wanted to be sure he's not going to rape you._

Kurt tilted his head slightly in confusion. Who would be visiting him here at Dalton? Surely not Finn, he had already said goodbye only a day ago. Was it one of the jocks, pretending to know him so they could beat him up?

Well, he would have to find out. "It's okay, sir." Kurt said. "You can let him in."

Darner smiled. "Okay. He'll be waiting for you in the entrance hall." Darner reaches out, as if to pat Kurt on the shoulder, but decided against it at the last minute, letting his arm swing down like a pendemum back to his side.

Kurt turned to the others, who were all eyeing him curiously. "Well... I guess I'd better go see who it is, then." Kurt said, trying his best to sound casual as he took his half eaten salad and tossed it into the trashcan, standing up as he did so.

"We'll come with you if you want?" Blaine said hopefully, also standing up and grabbing his tray. For some strange reason he could not think of, he really did not want to let Kurt go off on his own.

Kurt saw the earnest expression on Blaine's face and smiled. "Sure. If you want to." He said with a shrug as Blaine tossed his tray into the trashcan.

So, the other five boys stood up, tossed their trays into the trashcan, amd followed Kurt into the entrance hall, all of them looking curiously at eachother.

As Kurt walked closer to the entrance hall, he started to grow nervous. Who was visiting him? It couldn't be his Dad or Finn, they had only said goodbye yestersay. Darner said it was a boy, so it wasn't Brittany or Santana. Could it be...?

No. That was ridiculous. Karofsky wasn't allowed anywhere near him. Even if he had showed up for whatever reason, they would never let him into the school...

Kurt threw open the doors to the entrance hall, his heart pounding in anticipation.

He blinked in surprise when he saw himself staring at a tall, muscular, mohawked-teenager with a letterman jacket on leaning against the back wall of the room

"...Noah?"

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Ooh, cliffie! Haha, not really, but I wanted Puck's scene to be its own chapter.

I know that Blaine doesn't actually play guitar, but I wanted him to, so he's doing it. End of story. (Edit: I know that he played guitar in the beatles episode, but I don't think he was actually playing then. Later in season five he takes guitar lessons from Elliot, so I think we can assume that Blaine can't play guitar :))

Anyway, thanks for all of the reviews! Next chapter will most likely be next week.

See you later! Bye!


	7. Chapter seven - Protective Puck

**So, question time: What's everyone's favorire Glee episodes? I really like Never Been Kissed (duh), Origional Songs (again, duh), Theatricality, and The Rocky Horror Glee Show. What about you guys? Top episodes? Just curious. Anyway, enjoy this chapter!**

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Puck grinned at the stunned countertenor. "Come on, princess, didn't you miss me?" He asked when Kurt continued to gape at him. He held out his arms wide for a hug.

Kurt ran straight into them. Puck was one of the only people that was allowed to hug him, along with his dad, Finn, and Santana and Brittany. Puck wrapped his arms tightly around Kurt's thin frame, and Kurt burrowed his shoulder into Puck's letterman jacket. It held the farmiliar McKinley scent, a mixture of axe body spray and artificial fruit slushees. It was comforting.

Behind them, five jaws dropped in collective disbelief. This person, 'Noah' as Kurt had called him, looked like the very epitomy of a homophobic jock, and Kurt just ran straight into his arms without any hesitation? Kurt was terrified of all of them and flinched when they so much as spoke too loud.

And the boy had called him... princess? Blaine felt jealousy surge inside of him and scowled.

Kurt, oblivious to the shock behind him, detatched himself from Puck and looked up at him. "Noah, what are you doing here?"

Puck shot a furtive glance at the the boys behind Kurt, then plastered on a smile that was just a bit too cheery. "I didn't get to say goodbye to you yesterday!" He said brightly, reaching out to muss up Kurt's hair. Kurt swatted his hand away. "So I decided to come visit you."

"But that must have been a 2 hour drive!" Kurt said in surprise. "You didn't have to do that! I would have been alright if you just texted me."

Kurt suddenly remembered the five boys behind him and turned around. They were all staring at him with wide eyes.

"Um.." Kurt said, slightly embarrased that he had spoken so much in front of them, "N-Noah, this is my roomate, Blaine. These are Wes, David, Jeff, and Nick." He said, pointing to each of them. "Guys... this is Noah Puckerman."

Blaine had a very dark look on his face that made Kurt cough and shrink back a little bit.

Nick was the first to recover, and plastered a bright smile on his face. "Kurt, you didn't tell me you had a boyfriend!" He said with a determined cheerfulness in his voice.

Both boy's eyes widened. Puck looked at Kurt, then at the other boys, and burst out laughing. The boys stared at him as if he had three heads.

Kurt scowled at Puck and whacked him on the arm, which made him cough and slowly stop laughing. "Dude, I'm straight as a stripper's pole." He managed to choke out. "Kurt's still my number one gay, though." He threw his arm around Kurt's shoulder, making Kurt flinch slightly. "His stepbrother plays football with me." He added to the rest of them.

Blaine looked distictly more cheerful. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Noah." He said with a charming smile.

Puck snorted. "Listen preppy, only Hummel here is allowed to call me 'Noah'. It's Puck to you."

Blaine looked a bit put-off, but smiled nonetheless. "Okay... Puck."

Puck withdrew his arm from Kurt's shoulder and folded his arms. He glanced at the other boys in the room. "So, are the rest of you all gay?" His tone was conversational, but there was a darker bite in his voice.

"Noah!" Kurt said, mortified.

None of them looked offended, though. They all just chuckled good-naturedly. "Um, no." Blaine said once Wes had stopoed giggling. "I mean, _I_ am, and Nick and Jeff are dating, but Wes and David both have girlfriends."

Kurt struggled to retain his shock as he absorbed this information. Blaine... was gay? But he was so _popular!_ Everyone seemed to likd Blaine! How could they if they knew that he was gay? Kurt looked up and met Blaine's hazel eyes. Blaine sent him a bright smile, and Kurt couldn't help but return it, flushing a faint pink.

Puck's eyes narrowed dangerously as he saw the silent interaction between Kurt and Blaine. He did not like the look that curly-haired hobbit was giving Kurt. It wasn't exactly the crazed hunger that was so often in Karofsky's eyes, but it was still different and he didn't like it. Not one. Little. Bit.

"Kurt," Puck suddenly said, his eyes flashing, "Your roomate is _gay?"_

"Um... yeah?" Kurt sais nervously, shrinking back slightly. "Wh-why?"

Puck's eyes narrowed even further, and he turned his gaze to Blaine. The smile had dissapeared from Blaine's face, and there was now confusion mixed with a hint of nervousness on his face. "Do you have a problem with me?" He asked, a determined politeness still in his voice.

With no warning, Puck suddenly burst across the room and grabbed Blaine's collar violently.

"Noah!" Kurt cried in shock, but Puck ignored him, shaking Blaine's collar.

"Listen to me, hobbit." He growled into Blaine's wide-eyed face. "You lay _one finger_ on Kurt, and I swear to you I will smack you so hard that - "

"Noah! What on earth are you doing?!" Kurt said angrily, rushing over to Puck and prying his hand off of Blaine's collar. Blaine fell to the floor with a gasp, massaging his throat.

"Kurt, I don't like the idea that you're sharing a room with someone who's gay, _especially_ that creepy hobbit." Puck said quietly, shooting a nastly glare at Blaine. "He could _do_ something to you. Especially after what happened at McKinley with - "

"Puckerman!" Kurt said warningly, looking anxiously over his shoulder at the five boys behind him. They were all look looking at him with varying degrees of shocked confusion. "Just because they're gay doesn't mean that they're crazy like Karofsky was!" He yelled, his face burning slightly at the thought of his former tormentor. "We can talk on the way back to your car."

Kurt grabbed Puck's arm and dragged him out of the room and into the parking lot. He stopped outside of Puck's car and folded his arms, glaring at the taller teenager.

"What the hell, Noah?" He said angrily. "I just start to meet people at this school that don't completly hate me, and you're already trying to scare them off! Blaine hasn't done anything to me at all, he's beem completly nice!"

Puck stared down at the furious red-faced junior, and felt something inside of him snap. He suddenly wrapped his arms around Kurt and pulled him into a fierce hug. He felt Kurt flinch, but couldn't bring himself to stop.

"I'm sorry, Kurt." Puck said softly. "I really am. I just... it scares me when I know that there's no one here to protect you, from anything at this place. And... I can't find you like that again, Kurt, I just can't." Puck closed his eyes as the memory washed over him.

 _He was walking with Finn to third period after gym, carrying his towel over his shoulder casually. For some reason, Karofsky had hung back in the locker room after practice, claiming that he was going to get in some conditioning exercises in before class. There was something in Karofsky's gaze that was a bit..._ off, _but he was too exhausted to care what it was._

 _"Ah, shit." Finn said suddenly, looking around. "I think I left my bag in the locker room. Tell Mrs. Cretini where I am, okay?"_

 _"Sure." Puck agreed as Finn retreated down the hallway and around the corner._

 _Puck was almost to the classroom when he heard a loud crash from the direction that Finn had just gone._

 _"Wait, what the - WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING TO MY BROTHER, KAROFSKY?!"_

 _Puck winced when he heard Finn shout. He had never heard Finn sound so angry in his life. He quickly turned around and rushed towards the locker room to stop Finn from murduring Karofsky. Puck figured that Karofsky was probably picking on Hummel again and Finn was just playing the protective brother card now that their parents were engaged_.

 _Puck really did wish that Hummel wouldn't be so... out there. The whole 'gay' thing didn't really make him uncomfortable anymore_ , _but he knew that it made the others more likely to harrass Hummel. He wasn't a huge fan of the boy, but he still wished that he wouldn't put a target on his back._

 _Shaking his head slightly,_ _Puck opened the door to the locker room and stopped dead_.

 _The first thing he was was Finn pinning Dave Karofsky to the wall by his neck, a completly livid expression on his face. Karofsky didn't look scared at all, he was just standing there with a smug look on his face._

 _"What the hell were you_ doing _to him, Karofsky?!" Finn demanded, shoving him further into the wall._

 _Karofsky just smirked. "Oh, please." He said calmly. "He prances around all day in those tight outfits, in_ skirts, _spreading pixie dust everywhere._ _He was practically_ begging _somebody to bend him over and fuck him."_

...Fuck him? _Puck had never been so confused in his entire life. What on earth was Karofsky talking about?_

 _Puck looked around the room, and that's when he saw Hummel. He was slumped against the locker room wall, Finn's large letterman jacket draped over his otherwise bare body. His legs were pulled to his chest and he was hugging them tightly, tear tracks glittering on his cheek. A trickle of blood was running down a large gash on the top of his head. Puck had never seen someone look so defeated._

 _"Hummel?" Puck said blankly, still staring at Kurt. Kurt made no sign that he had heard him. "Hummel!" He repeated loudly, running up to Kurt and kneeling down besides him. Kurt's face was completly, terrifyingly blank. No sadness, no anger, not even tiredness was in his face. Just... nothing. It was as if the light had been extinguished from his bright blue eyes. "Hummel! Kurt, what happened to you?"_

 _"Puck!" Finn panted, now struggling to physically restrain Karofsky from rushing towards Kurt again. "Puck, you need to go get Mr. Schue, now!"_

 _"Finn?" He asked, shooting another worried glance towards Hummel. "What's going - "_

 _"NOW,_ _Puck!" He said loudly. "I'll explain later, just go!"_

 _"O-okay!" Puck said bemusedly, quickly rushing out of the locker room and running to Mr. Schue, trying to shake the disturbing image of Kurt's dead-looking face from his mind._

"And you _won't_ , Noah" Kurt said reaasuringly. "I promise. I can take care of myself."

Puck pulled back from the hug and stared down at Kurt. "Promise me you'll tell me if anything bad happens?" He asked.

Kurt smiled and rolled his eyes. _"Yes,_ Noah." He said.

Puck smiled and reached out to toustle Kurt's hair, which made Kurt scowl and smack his hand away.

"Hey, Kurt!" They both turned around to see Blaine jog up to them, panting slightly. "Are you coming back inside?" Blaine sent a slightly uneasy look at Puck.

Kurt attempted a smile. "Yeah, I will, Blaine." Blaine gave him a smile, which caused the farmiliar heat to pool to his face. He scrubbed at the annoying pink on his cheeks, hoping it wasn't noticable.

When Puck just continued to stare at Blaine, Kurt glanced over and whacked him on the arm.

"Ow! Okay, okay!" He said defensivly, rubbing his shoulder. He cleared his throat awkwardly and faced Blaine. "I'm - I'm sorry, dude. For, you know, threatening you. I just wanted to make sure that you weren't going to hurt porcelain, here."

"I would never." Blaine said immidietly, causing Kurt to flush and look at the floor.

"Alright." Puck said, folding his arms. "But, if you ever _do_ hurt him, I will see that you don't live to tommorow."

"Noah!"

"Going! I'm going!" Puck said quickly, opening his car door and hopping inside. He revved up the engine and rolled down his window. "Call me if there's any trouble." He said to Kurt, giving Blaine a small salute before speeding off.

Blaine slowly walked up to Kurt and cleared his throat. "Well... he sure doesn't seem to like me." He said, trying his best to sound casual.

Kurt flushed and looked at Blaine worriedly. "I'm so sorry about that, Blaine." He said quietly. "It's not just you, he's been like that with everyone ever since - "

Kurt suddenly froze. He felt the heat that had been rapidly rushing to his cheeks quickly drain away, leaving him white as a sheet. His eyes widened. He almost completly let it slip the reason that he transfered! That was sure to be a one way ticket to losing all of his newly made friends.

Blaine frowned at Kurt's change in demeanor. "You - you don't have to tell me or anything, Kurt." He said quickly.

Kurt's shoulders sagged in relief that Blaine wasn't going to question him.

"Let's go back inside."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

 **End of another chapter! I hope that eveyone that was following this story on my other account (phoenix1018) managed to find it here. And to any newcomers, welcome to my story! I really hope you're enjoying it so far. I'm having a ton of fun writing this story, but your reviews may help me write a little faster ;)**

 **I've always really loved the protective Puck trope, I don't really know why. I just feel like Kurt and Puck could have been really good friends** **, and I was kind of sad when they** **never were.**

 **I don't know why, but I really like writing flashbacks. The idea of learning a backstory, one scene at a time, really intrests me. So, yeah.**

 **Anyway, please enjoy. I'm going back to school next week, so I probably won't be able to write as often. But I promise that I'll try my best** **to upload every Sunday!**

 **See you later!**

 **Edit: I got a comment from someone saying that they couldn't access this chapter. I don't know why that is, but I'll try to re-upload it? If it still doesn't work, I really don't know what to do.**


	8. Chapter eight - Who is Karofsky?

**Okay, before I start the chapter, I need to rant about something completly random (it has to do with Klaine though!). If you don't really care, just skip straight to the chapter.**

 **So I was re-watching some old** **Glee covers (cause I was super bored and not doimg anything) and I came across the "Baby, it's cold outside" one, and can I just say that OH MY GOD IT IS THE. MOST. PRECIOUS. THING. I'VE. EVER. SEEN. IN. MY. LIFE. LIKE THAT THREE-ISH MINUTES OF THEM SINGING IS MORE ROMANTIC THAN THREE WHOLE SEASONS OF STUPID 'FINCHEL'! THIS ONE SONG IS THE REASON I STILL SHIP KLAINE TO THIS VERY DAY. LIKE THAT ONE MOMENT WHERE BLAINE INCHES CLOSER TO KURT AND SINGS "MIND IF I MOVE IN CLOSER" IS THE CUTEST THING EVER LIKE SERIOUSLY?! AND AT THE END WHEN THEY WERE ON OPPOSET ENDS OF THE COUCH I LEGIT THOUGHT THAT THEY WERE ABOUT TO KISS!! IT WAS THE BEST THING THAT THE GLEE WRITERD EVER DID NO JOKE.**

 **I DON'T THROW AROUND THE WORD 'PERFECTION' A LOT, BUT THIS WAS DEFINATLY PERFECTION SO MUCH CUTENESS ALSKDJFHG!!!**

 ***Ahem*... Sorry about that. I just really needed to get that off my chest. Now that I have sufficiantly ranted, please enjoy this chapter!**

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Nick groaned and turned over in his bed, attempting to punch his pillow into a more comfortable postition to lay down on. He tugged the blanket over his body and closed his eyes, trying to get his buzzing brain to shut up.

It was no use. He couldn't sleep.

Kurt's interaction with Puck had been... confusing, to say the least. How did someone like Kurt end up being friends with someone like _Puck?_ Puck seemed like the kind of guy who would beat up a gay person or humiliate, not be freakily protective of one.

And Kurt seemed to _trust_ the terrifying mohawked teen, which was one of the most confusing things about it. What events had led up to Noah Puckerman earning a spot in Kurt's affections?

But the most mysterious part of it all wasn't anything about Puck, it was something that Kurt said. He closed his eyes as he remembered Kurt's angry, flushed face. _"Just because they're gay doesn't mean they're crazy like Karofsky was!"_

Nick sighed and smacked his forehead with his hand, frustration welling up inside him. Why did the name Karofsky seem so farmiliar to him?

Nick turned on his side and glanced across the room at his sleeping boyfriend. Jeff was sprawled across his bed, one leg dangling off of the side, dead to the world. He was squeezing his pillow tightly and he had his head buried in his blanket Jeff definatly didn't seem bothered by Kurt.

Nick turned back around and glared at the wall, definatly feeling frustrated.

Where had he heard the name Karofsky before?

After a moment of debating, Nick quickly sat up and grabbed his laptop and opened it up, blinking as the sudden brightness stung his eyes. He was surprised to see it was almost three in the morning. Had he been tossing and turning all night?

Nick opened google and paused for a minute, his cursor hovering over the search bar uncertianly.

Should he google the name? He was extremely curious, but he had a feeling that this would be possibly breeching Kurt's privacy. This person, Karofsky, could very well be the bully that drove Kurt away from his old school, and he didn't want to break Kurt's trust by finding out something that may be personal to him. Kurt had seemed very uncomfortable when he was talking about it before.

What was he going to do?

Making up his mind, he typed the name into the google search bar and pressed enter. his heart pounding in his chest. How bad could this really be? Maybe... maybe nothing would even show up...

He blinked when he saw the results that popped up. A few articals about a person named David Karofsky, with a picture of a chubby highschool boy in an orange prison jumpsuit attatched to the artical. _What the hell...?_

He clicked on one of the articals, his heart thumping in his chest.

"David Karofsky." He muttered, reading the artical aloud. "Eighteen years old, accused and found guilty of several accounts of..."

His eyes widened all of the color drained from his cheeks. His hand went to his mouth in horror. _No... no, this couldn't be right..._

Accused and found guilty of several accounts of rape and assault to a male minor not named. The person he assaulted was not named in the artical, due to privacy reasons.

Feeling slightly numb, Nick scrolled down to see what school Dave attended.

McKinley highschool.

 _No._ Nick told himself firmly, shaking his head. _No, that could be anybody. It doesn't have to be him..._

 _"I don't like the idea of you sharing a room with someone who's gay, Kurt!"_ The Puckerman boy had said. " _They could_ do _something to you! Especially after what happened last year with - "_ Kurt had interrupted him before he could finish his sentence.

 _It could still be something else... it doesn't have to be Kurt..._

Nick thought back to all of Kurt's peculiar behaviors. The way he shrunk back whenever people tried to touch him, the way he got nervous when he was around a lot of people, his panic attack in the rec room when Blaine had tried to touch his shoulder, the finger-shaped bruise that Jeff had seen around his neck, the way he walked as if he was in constant pain...

They had been looking for all of the wrong signs. They weren't looking at someone with abusive parents. They were looking at a rape victem.

"Oh god..." Nick whispered, covering his face with his hands. He leaned his head against the wall, feeling sick.

He thought back to the behavior of the countertenor. The boy had been so sweet and shy, like a frightened rabbit. The thought of anyone hurting Kurt in _that_ way made his head hurt and his stomach churn with fury. How could anyone ever do that to someone? To _Kurt?_

He rubbed his hand against his face. He was seriously regretting ever having opened his laptop. He felt sick and comtaminated somehow, and it hadn't even happened to him. He felt another stab to his heart when he imagined how Kurt must have felt.

' _Multiple accounts'..._ This wasn't just one attack that had left Kurt scarred for life. This person, this Karofsky, had raped Kurt _multiple_ _times._ How did it happen? Did Kurt not tell anyone? Perhaps he was to scared to tell anyone...

 _And now you've just found out his secret._ Nick sighed. His curiosity really was going to be the death of him some day.

He leaned his head against the wall, screwing up his face in a grimace. What the hell was he going to _do?_ Now that he knew this secret, he had no idea what he should do with it.

Should he tell the others? On one hand, they would all know to be careful around Kurt if they knew, and Kurt might make a bit more sense to them all... But on the other, if he told them, he would be sharing something that Kurt didn't want them to know, and that might just distance Kurt further from them, and that was the last thing he wanted to do.

So, that was it. He would just pretend that he didn't know anything, and he would let it tear him apart on the inside.

Just fucking perfect.

Jeff blinked when he slowly woke up to a bright light shining in his face. He glanced around the room, attempting to locate the source, and saw that it was Nick's laptop that was shining at him. It was almost three in the morning.

Confused, Jeff's gaze moved to Nick. Nick was sitting up in his bed, his head in his hands.

"Babe?" He said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. When Nick made no signs that he had heard him, Jeff slowly stood and padded over to Nick's bed. "Nicky?" He asked again. Nick still didn't move. Jeff gently grabbed Nick's hands and pried them away from his face. Nick's eyes were closed, his face scrunched up, as if he was trying to block out a bright light. "Nick, what's wrong?" He asked worriedly, holding Nick's trembling hands in his own. "You're shaking. Bad dream?"

Nick let out a shaky breath. "Something like that." He muttered, letting his head fall onto Jeff's shoulder. Jeff automatically wrapped his arms around Nick and rubbed his back comfortingly. "Will you stay with me?"

"Of course I will." He said with a small smile. Still keeping his arms wrapped tightly around Nick's shoulders, he layed both of them down on the bed and pulled the covers over Nick and himself. Nick buried his head into Jeff's chest. "Do you want to talk about it?" Jeff asked quietly, rubbing his thumb over Nick's back.

"No." Nick whispered, hugging Jeff tighter. "I just need you to stay with me."

Jeff frowned. It was rare that Nick didn't talk to Jeff about whatever was bothering him. "Okay, sweetie." He said, kissing Nick's forehead. "Just let me know if you do."

They were silent for a moment, laying together in Nick's bed.

In a few moments, Nick broke the silence. "...Do you remember our first time?" He asked, pulling back to look up at Jeff.

Jeff looked down at Nick, smiling confusedly. "How could I forget?" He asked, running a hand through Nick's hair. "It was the best night of my life."

Nick smiled a bit. "Mine, too." He said, playing with the hem of Jeff's t-shirt. "You were so patient and gentle."

"Of course I was." Jeff whispered with a frown, looking down into Nick's eyes. "It was your first time. What kind of monster would I be if I wasn't?"

Nick swallowed thickly and put his head back on Jeff's chest. _Monster._ Was that how Kurt thought of Karofsky? A monster? Did Karofsky haunt his nightmares? Did he think of Karofsky every time someone touched him?

Nick's first time with Jeff had been magical, it had been life changing. He couldn't imagine it being with anyone else, in any other way. The thought that Kurt's own first time had been torn from him in such a violent way made him want to scream out, or sob.

"Nick?" Jeff asked worriedly when he felt tears soak through the front of his shirt. He grabbed Nick's chin and tilted his head up, brushing away the tears on his face. "Nicky, what's wrong? Did something happen to you? I'm really worried about the way you're acting."

"Nothing happened, sweetie." Nick whispered back to him, putting his arms around Jeff's shoulder and hugging him tighter. "The dream just really shook me up. I just need to go to sleep."

Jeff was still unconvinced, but the tone in Nick's voice indicated that he was definatly done talking about this. "Okay, love." He whispered, kissing Nick's forehead again before allowing himself to drift back to sleep.

GLEEGLEEGLEEGLEE

 _The dream started the same. It always started the same._

 _But this time it was different. He was with Blaine instead of one of his friends at McKinley. They were walking down the halls of Dalton academy. They were holding hands._

 _They were talking, laughing. He was The Old Kurt, happy and full of life. Not The New Kurt, a broken, lifeless shell of the person he once was._

 _Blaine was laughing at a joke that_ he _told, all of his friends were laughing. He had friends. A family. Everything was perfect._

 _Until..._

 _"Hey! Lady boy!"_

 _Kurt felt his entire body freeze as he heard the farmiliar voice of Dave Karofsky behind him. His insides turned to ice. He couldn't move._ _Not this again, it couldn't be... not at Dalton, he was supposed to ve safe..._

 _The other boys were looking in between him and Karofsky with mild confusion and curiosity, wondering what was going on._

 _None of them tried to stop Karofsky as he sidled up behing Kurt and put his hands on Kurt's waist. Kurt flinched violently_ _, but he didn't move away. He couldn't._

 _"Did you miss me?" He growled huskily, moving his left hand slowly down Kurt's leg, then back up to grip his inner thigh tightly._ _Kurt whimpered._

 _"Please..." He whispered desperatly. He couldn't do it again, he couldn't. "Please..."_

 _"What the hell is going on here?" Blaine's voice was angry, but_ _he wasn't angry at Karofsky. He was angry at Kurt._

 _"Kurt, how could you let him do this to you?! Are you weak?! Are you stupid?!"_

 _"Can't even fight him off." Nick said in disgust, shaking his head. "How could anyone ever love you? You're just a weak, useless, fag."_

 _And they all started to leave, giving Kurt repulsed glances over their shoulders as they exited the building._

 _Kurt tried to call out to them, to ask them to help him, to tell them that it wasn't what they were thinking, but he felt a large hand clamp over his mouth. He couldn't scream. He couldn't move._

 _"Are you ready to have some fun, fairy?" Karofsky whispered into his ear, his right hand roaming up to Kurt's shirt button._

 _"NO!"_

Kurt gasped as he shot up in his bed, clawing at the non-existant hand that was clamped at his neck. He needed to get away, Karofsky, _Blaine -_

No... no, it was just a dream... Kurt looked around at his room, attempting to re-orient his sleep-addled brain. Just a dream. Just a dream.

Kurt ran his hand through his hair and sighed, glancing over at Blaine. Dead asleep. Good. He could put off _that_ awkward conversation for another day.

When he glanced at the clock on his nightstand, he saw that it was almost six in the morning. Oh well. It's not like he was going to get any more sleep anyway.

He gave a small sigh, heaved himself from his bed, and made his way to the bathroom to take his shower.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

 **Argh, you guys have no clue how much it physically pains me to do this to Kurt! But I have to go on, because I'm really enjoying writing this story.**

 **So, I've been thinking about something. When did the Glee fanbase just decide that Nick and Jeff were a couple? Because I can only remember one scene that Nick and Jeff were both in, and we didn't really see any of their personality. And it feels like Nick and Jeff just have these pre-set personalities that the Glee fanbase just decided. Am I just crazy? I don't know, maybe it's a fanon thing... I'm not super knowlegable about Glee fanon.**

 **Anyway, Nick knows now. It's going to be a while before any of the others find out, but I made Nick find out because... I don't know, I wanted to. But the others won't find out for a while.**

 **Hope you enjoyed! Byeeee!**


	9. Chapter nine - Stupid Amelia

**So I was about halfway through this chapter when I realized that my timeline was not how I intended it to be at all. My idea for this story was basically "What would happen if Karofsky hadn't just kissed Kurt in that locker room in episode six?" But I realized that the confrontation would have to happen much earlier in the year for my timeline to line up. So, in this story, the confrontation with Karofsky happened at the very beginning of Kurt's junior year. Anyway, enjoy!**

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Blaine woke up the next morning to the sound of faint humming from the shower running in the bathroom. He sat up, momentarily confused until he remembered that Kurt was his roomate now. Right.

Blaine slowly sat up and looked in the mirror next to his bed and sighed when he saw his farmiliar frizzy-haired face staring back at him. It didn't matter how many times he saw it, he would always hate his hair.

He stood up and slowly started rummaging around in his drawers for something to wear, settling on dark blue skinny jeans and a black polo shirt. After a moment of debate, he chose a simple white bowtie and put it on as well. He then sat at his vanity and began the daily process of gelling his dark curls into something that didn't resemble a monstrosity.

He was just smoothing the last of his hairs down when the bathroom door opened and Kurt stepped out of the bathroom, the mirror fogged up behind him. Blaine turned around and smiled at him.

Kurt was wearing a long sleeved green sweater, which Blaine thought was a bit strange considering the weather, and he still had purple shadows under his eyes. But the small smile Kurt gave Blaine in return made his heart flutter and made him quickly forget about any odd wardrobe choices.

"Hey." Kurt said quietly, sending Blaine a rather tired but geniune smile.

"Hey!" Blaine said happily, standing up and walking over to Kurt. "Are you ready to go to breakfast?"

"Um..." Kurt hesitated, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth, "I-I actually can't today. I have to go to the nurses office to get my shot records."

This was a lie. He was going to his weekly appointment with Amelia, the therapist his dad had insisted they hire after they all found out about _it._ Kurt hated the therapy sessions with a passion, but the meetings were apparently mandatory.

Blaine's face fell. "Oh." He said, looking at the floor slightly sheepishly.

Kurt hated the frown on Blaine's face. "B-but," He quickly added, "I'm not quite sure where the nurse's office is, would you mind showing me?" He didn't need to tell Blaine that he had a folded-up map of the building at the bottom of his school-issued dresser.

Blaine's face lit up again. "Okay!" He said, extending his hand to Kurt and feeling pleased when Kurt hesitantly took it, his face flushing. "It isn't far from here." Kurt nodded, glancing down at their joined hands before Blaine gently pulled him out of the room and into the hallway.

"Thanks, Blaine." He said as they walked down the hallway. There was silence for a few moments. "Do you have any plans for today?" He asked.

Blaime thought for a moment. "I don't think so." He said slowly, frowning. "Warbler practice isn't until tomorrow, and Wes and David will be out all day, so I'm just hanging out today."

"Oh." Kurt frowned. "I've been meaning to ask... what exactly are the Warblers?"

Blaine blinked in surprise, then smiled. "I forgot that you didn't know what the Warblers were!" The Warblers were so popular at Dalton, the thought that Kurt had no clue what they were hadn't even crossed his mind.

"So... what are they?"

It turned out that the Warblers were actually Dalton's show choir. From the way Blaine talked about them, they seemed to be quite popular at Dalton, something that would most definatly never happen at McKinley. Blaine's eyed seemed to light up when he spoke about how much fun it was to sing with the Warblers.

"And... you're the lead singer?" Kurt asked, smiling at the enthusiastic look on Blaine's face.

"Well, most of the time, yeah." Blaine said, a hint of pride in his voice. "Our sectionals is actually next Saturday. Did you know?"

Kurt did know. A month ago, he had been excited about it. Mr Schue was planning to give him a solo.

That was before _it._ He had quit Glee club as soon as it had happened.

"I, uh... no, I didn't know." Kurt lied.

"Well, you could totally come if you wanted to!" Blaine said hopefully, hoping that Kurt wanted to come. From the way Kurt's eyes lit up when he started talking about the Warblers, it seemed that Kurt was a fan of music.

Blaine frowned when Kurt furrowed his eyebrows and looked at the floor. "I... I don't know. Blaine. I'd really love to come, but I don't really do great with big crowds..." Kurt shrugged again and looked up at Blaine, a sort of apologetic look on his face.

"Oh." Blaine said, trying to hide the dissapointment. "Well, let me know if you end up wanting to come."

"Okay. I will." Kurt said, giving Blaine a small smile as they stopped in front of the nurse's office. Kurt slid his hand out of Blaine's and clasped both of his hands awkwardly behind his back.

"Do you want me to walk you in?" Blaine offered.

"No, I'm alright." said Kurt. "Thank you though, Blaine. You should get to breakfast."

"Okay. See you at lunch, Kurt!" He grinned at Kurt, giving him a small wave before departing down the hallway.

Kurt sighed and leaned against the door to the nurse's office. He had to see stupid Amelia today, who didn't understand him at all and made him feel horrible. She talked to him like a three year old, and her therapy sessions were nothing like the one's on TV, where you leaned down om your couch and spilled out all of your lifes troubles. He couldn't imagine sharing anything about his personal life to Amelia.

No use putting it off any longer. He straightened up and pushed open the door.

The lady sitting behind the front desk had soft brown hair cut into a bob, and was wearing a purple blouse with a thin gold chain around her neck. Her name tag read 'Hannah'.

Hannah furrowed her eyebrows at him. "I don't think I've seen you around here before." She said, looking down at a list im her hands. "Remind me of your name again, sweetie?"

"U-um, I actually just transfered here on Friday, my name is Kurt Hummel."

He could tell as soon as he told Hannah his name that she knew the reason he transfered. Everyone had the same reaction. Their eyes would widen, then their whole face would rearrange into something that was attempting, but failing, to remain emotionless. They would treat him like a ticking time bomb that would explode if they said the wrong thing. Kurt knew that most of the Dalton staff knew, but it still frustrated him that his life story was being thrown around carelessly from person to person, without so much as asking him if it was okay.

"Of course, Kurt." She said, a sickly sweet smile on her face that didn't mask the obvious pity in her voice. "Amelia is waiting for you in the back room, sweetie."

He quickly rearranged his featured into a neutral expression and entered the back room, where Amelia was waiting for him in a rolling chair.

Amelia had blonde hair that had been pulled back into a tight bun , but Kurt could tell that it had been bleached several times, something that even The New Kurt detested, and her outfit looked as if it came from the librarian section of Rachel Berry's wardrobe.

"Hello, Kurt!" She said, glancing up at him with a quick smile before going back to shuffling the papers in her lap. He saw his name on several of them as he lowered himself into the hardback chair across from her.

Kurt didn't respond to her greeting, because he knew she was probably only half listening anyway.

She finally looked up at Kurt with a big, shiny smile on her face. "So, how are you feeling today, Kurt?"

He resisted the urge to raise a sardonic eyebrow at her. "Fine." He said, in what he felt like was a cretibal imitation at politeness.

"That's wonderful!" She looked down and looked through a few more papers in her lap before continuing. "Is there anything specific you would like to talk about today?"

"No." Kurt muttered, counting the colored bricks on the wall behind Amelia's chair. They looked colorful. Cheerful. They felt wrong.

Amelia sighed, but didn't reprimend him. "Okay, well, are you liking the kids at Dalton so far?"

"They're fine." The were much more than fine. They were all amazing. Especially Blaine, he was so nice to him...

Wait, why was he thinking about Blaine all of a sudden?

"Do you feel threatened by them in any way?" She asked him in her gentle 'therapist' voice.

"No!" He said, a little harsher than he meant to, because the thought of Blaine or Nick or any of the others hurting him felt almost unbearable.

Amelia raised a heavily penciled eyebrow. "Kurt, has someone here hurt you? You don't have to be afraid to tell me."

"No one here is doing that!" Kurt said angrily, sitting up in his chair.

"No need to get angry," she said gently, "I am only trying to help - " She suddenly cut off. She was staring at Kurt's neck with a concerned frown on her face. Confused, Kurt looked at where she was looking. On his lower neck, right next to his collarbone, was a large red hickey.

Kurt flushed dark red and tugged the collar of his sweater up, covering the ugly mark. Why did she feel the need to goggle at it, like he was some sort of creature in a zoo? She knew what had happened to him, why couldn't she just pretend it wasn't there? He felt bad enough as it was.

Amelia cleared her throat somewhat awkwardly and mumbled a half apology, while turning in her chair and writing a few words on a clipboard.

She finally looked back up at him and proceeded to go on a long drone about how 'it takes time to heal, Kurt' and how she understood how it must feel like nothing was ever going to get better, but that he could 'accomplish his goal, one step at a time." Overall, a bunch of scripted motivational crap that had nothing to do with any of Kurt's feelings.

"Oh, looks like our hour is almost up!" She said, glancing at the clock behind Kurt's head. Kurt hurriedly started gathering his things to leave when Amelia said, "Hold on, Kurt. I would like to talk to you about something that's been concerning your dad recently."

Kurt stopped moving. His dad had been concerned? What was he worried about? Clearly he had been worried enough to talk to Amelia about it...

"You're dad told me that you haven't been eating much lately." She said gently.

Kurt frowned. "I... I guess not." He muttered, glancing to the side. "I usually just forget to..." Where was she going with this?

She smiled sadly at him. "Well, why don't you take these with you and read them, and we can talk next week, okay?" She held out a handful of pamphlets to Kurt, and Kurt was reminded fleetingly of Ms. Pillsbury, handing out colorful pamphlets to all of the students that came to visit her. As adorable as Ms. Pillsbury and her pamphlets usually were, Kurt couldn't remember a time that they had actually helped with any of his problems.

Kurt took the pamphlets, confused. He read the cover of the first one and blanched. The cover bore the title _"The beginnings of anorexia and how to stop it"_ in bold letters.

Kurt looked up and glared at her. "I'm not anorexic." He said flatly.

"Well... just think it over, and read them, and we'll talk again next Sunday." She smiled at him again, and Kurt bit back a sarcastic remark. "And don't forget to read the others, too. They have helped several children like yourself find the right mindset."

Kurt wanted to scream out in frustration. But instead he just pocketed the pamphlets, forcing his expression to stay neutral. He planned to toss them into the trashcan as soon as he got to his dorm. Before she could say anything else to him, he slung his back over his shoulder amd stormed out of the office.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Blaine walked to breakfast alone, feeling slightly cheerful after his conversation with Kurt. It seemed like he was getting the shy countertenor to come out of his shell a bit more, and that was his ultimate goal. He entered the cafeteria in high spirits and sat down at his usual table with Nick, Jeff, Wes, and David.

Blaine frowned when he saw Nick. Nick was slumped over a cup of coffee, dark shadows under his eyes. He looked exhausted. Jeff had his arm on Nick's back and was absently rubbing his hand across it.

Nick gave him a half-smile as he sat down. "Hey, Blaine." He said before yawning widely

"Nick, you alright? You look tired." Blaine said concernedly, accepting his medium drip from David with a nod of thanks.

Nick didn't responde, just shrugged. Jeff mouthed the word 'nightmare' at Blaine over Nick's shoulder, and Blaine nodded sympathetically. "Hope you're feeling better soon, Nick."

"Hey, Blaine, where's Kurt? Did you see him today?" Wes asked casually

Only Jeff notice Nick's wince slightly at the mention of Kurt's name, looking as if something physically pained him. Jeff frowned. He wrapped his arms around Nick and pulled him close to his chest, rubbing circles into his back. Nick sighed and leaned his head against Jeff's chest.

"Yeah, he had to go to the nurse's office, so he won't be at breakfast." Blaine said with a smile. "He seems to be alright, though. We talked about the Warblers, and he seemed pretty interested."

"So he's talking to you a bit more?" Jeff asked.

"Yeah." Blaine took a drink of his coffee. "He'll probably meet us at lunch."

"That's good." Said Jeff with a smile. "We can talk to him at lunch."

"Yeah." Nick echoed. "Yeah. That's good. I'm glad that he wants to talk to us."

"Yeah!" Blaine said enthusiastically, not picking up on Nick's rather pained expression. "Yeah, it is good."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

 **Whew, these chapters are coming out so fast! I love writing this story. I wrote about three chapters of this story almost a year ago, and then I got severe writers block and quit the story. For some reason, actually uploading the stories made it so much easier to write!**

 **Please review! There's been one person reviewing every chapter I've written (thank you so much, I really appriciate it) but I's really love it if other people would review, just to tell me if they liked it or not.**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Thanks!**


	10. Chapter ten - Denial

**I really hope people like this story, cause I absolutly love writing it... I didn't have a plan when I first started this, but now I have several different ways I can see this ending, I don't know what I'm going to choose! Anyway, enjoy!**

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Kurt threw open the door to his dorm room, glad to see that Blaine was not yet back from breakfast. He tossed the pamphlets that Amelia gave him into the trashcan next to his desk and collapsed face-up on his bed, feeling considerably frustrated.

That stupid woman! To try to tell him how he was feeling, and to assume that he was _anorexic._ He definatly wasn't! It wasn't his fault that he was a thinner than he should be! He knew deep down that she was only trying to help him, but for some reason that only made him angrier. Why couldn't she just _ask_ him what would help, instead of spewing out a bunch of scripted theraputic junk?

He sighed and put his hands on his face. Amelia usually didn't make him this angry. Usually he just got back from his therapy sessions feeling emotionally drained and exhausted. But today for some reason, he was full of anger. He wanted to _do_ something. He wanted to go out and do something enjoyable, just to spite Amelia. Unfortunatly, there wasn't much that was enjoyable for him anymore. Talking to Blaine was usually pretty nice, but...

Wait, why was he thinking about Blaine again?

"Er... Kurt?" Kurt jolted up, turning his head to face the door. _Speak of the devil._ Blaine was standing in the doorway, a slightly concerned look on his face. Just seeing Blaine seemed to make him feel more relaxed for some reason, less aggrivated.

"You okay, Kurt?" Blaine asked worriedly. "You were just kind of... laying there."

Kurt attempted to smile at him, hoping that it didn't look too much like a grimace. "I'm alright, Blaine." He said. "Just a bit tired. How was breakfast?"

"It was alright." He said, sitting on the edge of Kurt's bed, keeping about a six inch distance between them. "Nick was pretty out of it, but it was good. Jeff talked a lot, as usual."

"Is Nick okay?"

"Oh, yeah." Blaine said. "Nick tends to get distracted sometimes when things are bothering him, and he doesn't get a lot of sleep. I'm sure that after he's had a cup of coffee he'll be back to normal."

Kurt smiled. "That's good." Kurt looked down at the bedspread, a smile still playing across his face.

"So... how'd it go in the nurse's office?" Blaine asked eventually.

Blaine frowned when he saw Kurt scowl. He didn't think he had ever seen that expression on Kurt's face. "It didn't go so well." He said, playing with the end of the bedspread. "I don't really do so well with meeting new people..."

"Oh." Blaine frowned. "I'm sorry, Kurt."

Kurt looked up and shrugged, smiling again. "It's alright. I'm fine."

"Okay, good." Blaine cleared his throat. "So, are you coming to - ?"

 _"Rah, rah, ah-ah-ah! Ro ma, ro-ma-ma! Gaga - "_

Kurt flushed when he heard his phone buzz loudly in his pocket. He quickly fumbled getting the phone out of his pocket, and saw that it was his dad calling.

"Um, I'm gonna take this..." He said, pointing apologetically to his phone. Blaine nodded, and Kurt quickly accepted the call, standing up and leaving the room.

Blaine could hear Kurt's muffled words from the other side of the door, and he sighed and leaned against the wall on Kurt's bed, his foot absently tapping the rythem to 'Hey, Soul Sister' against the leg of the bed. He sat still for a moment until something caught his eye, and he sat up with a frown.

It was a few brightly-colored pamphlets in Kurt's otherwise empty waste basket. The kind of thingd that the guidance councler at Dalton gave children when they came to visit her. Blaine always thought that they were a bit stupid. How are a few random words on a folded-up piece of paper going to solve any serious problems? But... why did Kurt have them? And why were they in his trash can? They definatly weren't there yesterday...

Blaine shot a furtive glance at the door. He could still hear Kurt's muffled conversation on the other side of the door, so, his curiosity overpowering him, he walked over to the trash can and snatched the papers out, reading the cover on the first one.

He stared at it in shock. _'The beginnings of anorexia and how_ _to stop it'?_ But Kurt wasn't anorexic...

 _Unless he was._ Kurt _was_ a lot skinnier than most people his age, and he hardly ever ate anything... in fact, Blaine only remembered Kurt eating once in the two days since they had met...

Was Kurt anorexic? Or perhape the school counsler was worried that he was anorexic?

Blaine heard Kurt's voice outside of the door stop talking and quickly put the pamphlets back in the trash can, sitting back on the bed just as Kurt re-entered the room.

"Hey. Sorry about that." Kurt said, putting his phone back in his pocket. "It was just my dad. So... what were you saying?"

"Right, um..." Blaine had gotten distracted, amd forgotten that he and Kurt were in the middle of a conversation. "I was going to ask if you were coming to lunch with us later?"

"Oh." Kurt blinked. "Well, I guess I can. Nothing else planned for today."

"Okay, good." Blaine said, standing up from Kurt's bed and clearing his throat, putting his hands on his hips. "Well, I think I'm gonna go get my guitar from Wes' room before he causes it - or me - bodily harm. I'll see you later, Kurt." With a wave, he left the room.

And Kurt was left back alone with his thoughts.

After a moment, he grabbed his laptop and opened facetime, clicking Santana's number. He needed to rant. He hadn't done that in a long time, and he knew that it would make him feel better. And of course, who was better to rant to than Santana?

It rang for a few minuted before Santana's face popped up on his laptop screen, smiling happily. Next to her on the bed was Brittany.

"Hey, Hummel!" She said enthusiastically, waving at him.

"Hey, San." He said, waving back. "Hey, Boo."

"Hi, dolphin!" She said, beaming. "Guess what? Artie and I got back together! And me and Mike get to dance in front of everybody at sectionals!"

"Really?" Kurt said, surprised. "Wow, that's amazing, Britt! I'm so proud of you!"

"So, any particular reason that you're calling today, or could you just not wait to hear the sound of my voice?" Santana asked, laying her head into Brittany's lap and smiling when Brittany absently carded her hands through her dark hair.

Kurt's face darkened. "I just really need to talk to someone. I saw Amelia earlier today."

Santana scowled. "What did that stupid woman do now?" Ever since his first meeting with Amelia, Santana had formed a deep hatred of the woman, claiming that nobody got away with "hurting her precious porcelain." It was funny, but Santana almost seemed to hate Amelia more than they did. It was oddly flattering, in a weird way.

"Okay, so get this." Kurt said, lying on the bed and crossing his legs. "At the end of our meeting today, she tried to give me pamphlets for anorexia."

"No. Way." Santana's mouth fell open. "She thinks you're anorexic?"

"It would appear so." Kurt said gravely. "My dad apparently said that he was 'Concerned about me'." He shook his head. "I wish he wouldn't worry so much. I feel bad enough for using all of his honeymoon cash on tuition money. And Amelia is just... she's just... gah!!" He smacked his hands against his head.

"Relax, Hummel." She said with a small smile. "You shouldn't have to worry about all that stuff right now. You're at your fancy new gay school, so you're obligated to have fun."

"Santana, how many times do I have to tell you, _it's not a gay school."_

"Kurtie, are you going to join the glee club at your new school school?" Brittany piped up, twirling Santana's ponytail between her fingers. "You would totally be the best singer there."

Kurt swallowed and closed his eyes. "I don't think so, Britt." He said, looking at her and forcing a smile. "I think I'm talking a little break from singing for now."

Brittany's bottom lip stuck out in an unmistakable pout, and it was so adorable that Kurt almost laughed out loud. "But... you sing so pretty, Kurt! You would totally win if you sang with them."

"Sorry, Britt." He gave an apologetic shrug. "But... I-I might come out to watch you guys this weekend."

"Really?" Santana said in surprise, moving her head out of Brittany's lap. "Why? You told Puck that you weren't coming last week."

"Um, my roomate is actually the lead singer of the glee club here, a-and he invited me to come and watch. So I thought I might show, you know."

"Your 'roomate', huh?" Santana said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestivly. "Is this the same gay roomate that Puckerman tried to strangle yesterday?"

"Maybe." Kurt said smugly. "Don't get any ideas though, Satan."

"Whatever. I gotta go now, but talk tomorrow?"

"Okay. Bye San, bye Britt."

And the phone was disconnected, and Kurt was left alone again.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

"Are you ready to go to lunch, Kurt?" Blaine said, sticking his head into the dorm room to look at the countertenor. Kurt was laying on his bed, absently tapping his fingers against his laptop. He looked relaxed, a small smile on his face.

Kurt looked up at Blaine and closed his laptop. "Sure." He agreed, placing his laptop carefully on his desk and standing up. The two exited the room into the hallway.

"Are Nick and Jeff going to be there?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah, as far as I know." Blaine said. "Wes and David too."

"Good." A light smile went across Kurt's face. "Did you manage to rescue your guitar from Wes' room?"

Blaine grinned. "Yeah, but he warned me that this was definatly the last time. It's safe in the choir room now, so he shouldn't be able to touch it."

Kurt looked at the floor, still smiling. "That's good." He said softly as they entered the cafeteria. Jeff saw him from across the cafeteria and waved happily. He waved back, smiling.

"Let's get some food." Blaine said quickly, taking Kurt over to the food line and grabbing a random tray. "What do you want, Kurt?" He sounded anxious.

"Um..." Kurt said, taken slighlty aback by Blaine's tone of voice. "I... I guess salad?"

Blaine quickly grabbed the largest salad on the table and put it into Kurt's hands. "Alright, now you eat that." Blaine said, looking worriedly into his eyes. Kurt may or may not be anorexic, but either way he was still far too thin.

Kurt frowned. "Okay...?" He said slowly.

Blaine smiled. "Good." He said, grabbing a water bottle and tossing it in the air, catching it with his other hand. "Let's go sit." They both walked over to the table in the back of the room, where the other boys were waiting for them.

"Hey, Blaine. Kurt." David said, smiling as they lowered themselves into their seats. "Glad you made it."

"Hey, David!" Blaine said, picking up his fork and beginning to eat his pasta on his tray.

"Hi, Kurt." Nick said, giving Kurt a smile. He still had shadows under his eyes, and there was something a bit off about his smile, but he looked much better than he did at breakfast. "How are you doing?"

"Good." Kurt said with a small smile, picking up his fork and scooping up a piece of lettuce out of his salad. "Are you okay? Blaine said you didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

Something brief flashed across Nick's face, something that looked pained, but it was gone in a moment, and the smile was back on his face. "I'm great, Kurt. Thanks for asking."

"Good. That's good." Kurt nodded, taking a bite of his salad.

Kurt played with his salad while the other boys around his talked, preferring to just keep his head down and listen rather than contribute to the conversation. It was okay anyway; Jeff was on another one of his long, rambling stories, and there wasn't much room to interject anyway. It was nice, to just listen to a normal conversation, with normal people. Normal people who didn't know that he was about as far from a normal person as he could possibly get. He loved Santana and Puck to death, and they never treated him any differently, but the knowlage always loomed over Kurt that they _knew,_ they knew exactly what had happened, even if they never spoke about it.

These people, though. These people had no clue what had happened to him.

And he intended to keep it that way.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next chapter will have Kurt's first day of classes at Dalton, so the chapters won't be nearly as slow. (Hopefully...)**

 **Anyway, make sure to review! See you next Sunday!**


	11. Chapter eleven - A Real Smile

**S** **omeone said that it was weird that the story was referring to Kurt as 'countertenor' when they didn't know he was one yet. My response to that is... um, oops? I honestly didn't think about that haha. But anyway, I was only using the word countertenor because just calling him 'Kurt' all the time is kinda boring. So, I'm keeping it in there. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Kurt woke up on Monday morning not slowly, but all at once. His eyes snapped open in the semi-darkness, and he was staring at the intricate ceiling of his dorm room at Dalton.

He sat up and stifled a yawn with his hands. Last night had been one of those rare nights where he hadn't had any nightmares. His dream had been fuzzy and pleasant, all bright colors and soft voices, nothing distinguished. He thought Blaine might have appeared in them at one point, but he couldn't remember.

Anyway, he was grateful for it. He was already stressed about starting his first school day at Dalton, and he felt that a nightmare on top of everything else would be too much to handle.

A glance at the clock beside his bed showed that he had half an hour before Blaine usually got up, so he stood up out of his bed and opened his drawer, pulling out his folded Dalton blazer and tie, along with simple black pants and white shirt, and took them all to the bathroom.

He shed his pajamas and hopped into the shower, only staying in for a few minutes longer than he needed to. Now was not the time for one of his long, mother nature-killing showers.

He stepped out and pulled on his uniform, slipping the long sleeved white shirt over his head and pulling the blazer over his shoulders, frowning when he noticed how loosely they hung over his thin frame. That was weird, they had fit last time he had tried them on...

Kurt shook is head. It was fine. He was fine.

Then the red-and-navy striped tie went on, looping it tightly around his neck. It had been a while since he had worn a tie. He used to wear ties with his outfits all the time, but after...

Well. He hadn't worn a tie in a while.

He examined himself in the mirror and sighed, combing a hand through his hair. He still looked dreadful; far too skinny and tired-looking. After debating for a moment, he decided that he should do something with his hair, hoping it would make him look less dishiveled. He brushed his hair off of his forehead and grabbed a bottle of hairspray off of the counter. He sprayed a bit into his hair and combed his fingers through it again, styling it carefully.

It helped a bit. Not much, but a bit. It would do.

He opened the bathroom door again to see that Blaine was laying face up on his bed, scrolling through his phone. He looked up when Kurt came out.

"Hey, Kurt!" He said, turning his phone off and standing up, eyeing the brown-haired boy anxiously. "Do you want to go to breakfast?"

Kurt gave a small nod. His stomach felt oddly queasy. Saturday and Sunday had been okay, because it was only Blaine, Nick, Jeff, Wes, and David. It was his own protective bubble, away from everyone else, much like Glee had been at McKinley. But today he had to go to class, and there would be awkward introductions and uncomfortable staring and lingering glances from the teachers, as if they were worried he might drop dead if unsupervised.

"Okay." Blaine felt something inside his chest scrunch up when he saw how nervous Kurt was. Blaine instinctively reached out his hand and laced his fingers through Kurt's. Kurt stiffened slightly in surprise, glancing up at Blaine before giving him a somewhay shy smile and squeezing his hand in return. "Let's go."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Breakfast was a relatively quiet affair. There had been lots of not-so-subtle grumbling from Nick (who, according to Jeff, was _not_ a morning person) and Wes and David were both bent over a sheet of paper, speaking urgently to eachother. And of course, Kurt was still silent, choosing to pick at the fruit that was on his breakfast tray rather look at any of them. He was only able to eat half of it before he pushed it away from himself, his stomach churning too much to eat. He noticed Blaine's eyes flick over to him anxiously when he did this, but Blaine didn't say anything.

"You okay, Kurt?" Jeff asked, watching Kurt fiddle absently with the label around his water bottle.

Kurt looked up and gave a shrug. "Yeah. Fine." He attempted a smile. "Just, you know... first day of classes and all that."

"Don't worry, Kurt." Wes said reassuringly. "Most of the students here are really helpful, and they won't bother you if you ask them not to."

"What classes do you have, anyway? Can I see your schedule?" Jeff asked, holding out his hand and wiggling his fingers expectantly.

Kurt nodded and dug around in his school bag, pulling out his slightly crumpled class schedule and placing it in Jeff's outstretched hands.

Jeff unfolded the schedule and studied it critically. "Wow, you're in a lot of advanced classes!" He said. Kurt flushed. "Looks like you're in a lot of classes with Nick." Jeff pouted a bit. "We only have gym together."

"Don't worry, Jeff." David said, patting Jeff consolingly on the shoulder. "You'll still see Kurt plenty."

Jeff just _hmphed,_ making Blaine and David laugh.

"You ready to go, Kurt?" Blaine asked, sliding his fingers through Kurt's and squeezing his hand.

Kurt forced a smile. "Yeah."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Kurt lowered himself carefully into his desk at his math classroom, his hands actually trembling with nervousnes. Blaine was not in the class with him, only Nick. He didn't like being around so many people without Blaine next to him. He tapped his fingers anxiously against his desk and glanced to the side.

"You'll be okay, Kurt." Nick whispered to him as the other students started to sit down around him. He hesitantly reached out and touched Kurt's arm, pleased when Kurt didn't move it away. "The students in this class are nice, they won't bother you. You'll be fine."

Kurt nodded, his eyes staring ridgedly ahead as a teacher who looked to be in her late twenties entered the room and sat behind a desk. She had soft red hair and a pale, heart-shaped face, and she smiled at them all rather tiredly as she picked up some papers on her desk.

"Good morning, class." She said, shuffling the stack of papers. "My name is Ms. Albright. The reasom I'm saying this is because, as you may have noticed, we have a new student today. His name is Kurt Hummel." Twenty three pairs of eyes all immidietly travelled to Kurt, and Kurt looked down at his desk. "I expect to all to treat him with respect."

Kurt was relieved that Ms. Albright didn't try to make him introduce himself to the class, and instead she went right to teaching the class about a complicated math algorithem that the class had apparently gone over last week.

It was challenging work. Jeff was right; the curriculum _was_ harder at Dalton Usually math was an absolute breeze for Kurt, but today he was struggling to keep up with the concepts.

But there was no whispering behind him. No paper balls or erasers were thrown at his head when the teacher wasn't looking. No leers from homopobic jocks and no suggestive smirks from Karofsky that made him want to curl up in a ball and cry. No one was harrasing him.

It was amazing. Kurt was almost afraid to get used to it.

When the bell rang for the end of class, Ms. Albright called his name. "Could you please stay behind for a moment? I'd like to talk to you."

Kurt gulped, and Nick glanced at him worriedly. "Uh, yeah, okay." Kurt said, approaching her desk as Nick started to walk out of the door.

"I'll wait for you, Kurt!" Nick called anxiously before exiting the classroom and closing the door behind him.

Kurt waved at him before turning back to Ms. Albright, who was eyeing him carefully. "D-did you need anything, Ms. Albright?" He asked as politely as he could manage.

She smiled at him. It wasn't a fake, soppy smile that he got from most teachers, or most adults for that matter. It was a real smile, one that reached her eyes. "I waa just making sure you were adjusting okay to your new school. I know it can be a bit challenging, no matter what your situation is."

Kurt smiled. A real one. He liked Ms. Albright. "I'm doing okay." He said softly. "My roomate has been really helpful, and I've been talking to a few people."

"Ah, right." She said. "Now, your roomate is Blaine Anderson, correct?" Kurt nodded, and she smiled again. "Blaine's a great kid. Very nice."

"Yeah." Kurt agreed, looking down at her slightly cluttered desk. "Yeah, Blaine's great."

"Good." She cleared her throat. "Well, I just wanted to check up on you, Kurt. You can go to class now."

"Okay. Thank you, Ms. Albright." Kurt gave her a small departing wave before leaving the classroom. Nick was standing outside of the door waiting for him.

"What did Ms. Albright want?" He asked as they both started walking to their next class.

"She... she was just checking up on me. Seeing how I was adjusting to Dalton, you know." Kurt gave a small shrug. "She seems nice."

"Yeah, Ms. Albright's great." Nick agreed. "We have Mr. Moragne next. If you're well-behaved he's nice enough, but he's a real nightmare if you get on his bad side."

"Oh. That's... good to know. I'll bear that in mind."

Mr. Moragne, as it turned out, barely noticed that Kurt was there at all. The only acknowlagement he made to Kurt was a small nod to him at the beginning of class before he sat in his chair and immidietly assigned them three chapters of reading from their science textbook. "And I want you to take three pages of notes, front and back, by the end of class!" He said. "I have to grade your tests from yesterday, so be quiet."

Kurt opened up his science textbook and started to take notes on the page.

This really wasn't so bad.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

The rest of the day passed in a blur of introductions and reading, and the classes were over before Kurt knew it.

But right now he was lost. Extremly lost.

He had somehow ended up standing in the middle of one of the large staircases as all of the students rushed around him, all looking excited and clearly heading in the same direction. But _where_ they were all heading, Kurt had no clue.

He looked around again and felt relief wash over him when he saw Blaine's farmiliar gel helmet bobbing amongst the students. "Blaine!" He called out automatically, then winced.

Blaine turned around and beamed when he saw Kurt. "Kurt!" He said happily, letting the other students rush around him as he stood at the bottom of the staircase.

"... What exactly is going on?" He asked, glancing around again.

"The Warblers!" Blaine exclaimed enthusiastically. "Every now and then they throw and impromptu performance in the senior commons. It tends to shut the school down for a while."

"So, wait." Kurt said, his eyebrows quirking up. "The glee club here is... kind of cool?"

"The Warblers are like..." He waved his hand around as he tried to think of a word that encompassed all of what the warblers were, "... Rockstars!" He instinctivly grabbed Kurt's hand. "Come on. I know a shortcut."

They both ran down the halls to the senior commons, hand in hand. Kurt didn't know why, but the gesture made his heart flutter in a way that it never had before... it felt _real,_ like something had shifted between them.

It was ridiculous, of course. Nothing had shifted. It was just Blaine being friendly and him overanalyzing things.

They entered the senior commons to find it already packed with people, the whole room buzzing with anticipation. The rest of the warblers were all crowded in the center of the room.

"Now, if you'll excuse me." Blaine said to Kurt, letting go of his hand and casually handing his bag to another student. Kurt stared. This was so much different than McKinley.

And then they all began to sing.

 _Before you met me, I was alright_

 _but things were kind of heavy,_

 _you brought me to life,_

 _now every Febuary,_

 _You'll be my valentine_

 _Valentine_

It quickly dawned on Kurt that Blaine could sing, and he could sing extremly well. His voice was beautiful, amazing. The warblers all stepped into formation to sing the next part.

 _Let's go all the way tonight_

 _No regrets, just love_

 _We can dance until we die_

 _You and I,_

 _We'll be young forever_

And then, something crazy happened. Blaine looked _right at Kurt,_ almost as if he was directing the words to him. But why would he do that? He was just singing to the audience, wasn't he?

 _You make me_

 _feel like I'm livin' a teenage dream_

 _the way you turn me on,_

 _I can't sleep, let's run away_

 _and don't ever look back, don't ever look back_

 _I'mma get your heart racing in my skin tight jeans,_

 _be your teenage dream tonight_

Kurt was all out grinning now, and he didn't even care. The warblers were just so amazingly talented, and everyone seemed to be enjoying it, even dancing along to it, something that would never happen at McKinley.

 _Yeah, you make me_

 _feel like I'm living a teenage dream,_

 _the way you turn me on_

 _I can't sleep_

 _Let's run away and don't ever look back,_

 _don't ever look back_

Blaine was surprised that he didn't miss any of his dance moves when he looked over Kurt's face. Kurt had the biggest, most beautiful smile streched across his face. All of the other quirkes of his lip and half smiles didn't hold a candle. It was amazing.

 _I'mma get your heart racing in my skin tight jeans,_

 _Be your teenage dream tonight_

 _let you put your hands on me in my skin tight jeans_

 _be your teenage dream tonight!_

And then it was over, and everyone was clapping and clapping and Kurt could honestly not remember ever being this happy at McKinley. He thought that his heart might actually explode when Blaine turned right over to him and _winked._

"Kurt!" He called, jogging over to him and giving him a clap on the shoulder. "Did you like the song?"

"I loved it!" Kurt said, clapping his hands together. "It was... I mean, it was... wow!" He looked completly lost for words.

He grinned. "Glad you enjoyed it! Hey, Wes, David, Nick, Jeff, and I were all gonna head to the Lima Bean, if you... wanted to come?" He asked hopefully.

"Oh." He blinked. "Well... actually, yeah. That... that sounds nice."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

 **I realize that Teenage Dream would have already happened in the timeline, but I really wanted the song in this story. So yeah.**

 **I don't really know much about anorexia (When I wrote this, I wasn't origionally planning to make him anorexic, but the idea just kind of struck me) so I plan to google it so I can write it realistically.**

 **The way I see it as of now is that Kurt refuses to believe that this might be the start of a problem, and he probably doesn't even realize that his eating habits are unhealthy. He'll most likely run himself into the ground trying to convince everyone that he's okay, but eventually it'll be too much for him and he's going to snap. I'm honestly not sure when that is going to be, because I sort of just write these ideas as they come to me and I don't plan ahead in the slightest. Is that bad? Haha.**

 **See you next Sunday!**


	12. Chapter twelve - A Run in With Azimio

Blaine, Kurt, Nick and Jeff all piled into Blaine's car, Kurt in the passenger seat and Nick and Jeff sitting in the back. Wes and David were driving seperatly.

"How did you like the Warbler's performance, Kurt?" Jeff asked, kicking his feet up in the seat and laying his head in Nick's lap. Nick smiled and twisted a lock of Jeff's blonde hair around his finger.

"It was amazing!" Kurt said. He still had the big, real smile stretched across his face. "You guys were really good." Blaine beamed.

Blaine reached over and turned on the radio. "So, Kurt, how was your first day at Dalton?"

Kurt shrugged. "It was good. Bit more challenging than McKinley, but... it was good." He looked up at Blaine and smiled.

"Good! That's good." Blaine was honestly relieved. He was worried that with how skittish Kurt was, something would go wrong. "I'm glad you had a good day, Kurt."

Kurt looked up and felt the strange fluttering feeling in his stomach. He flushed and looked back at the car floor.

As usual, he stayed silent while the other three chatted amicably, relaying their days to eachother. But instead of being a queasy silence, it was more like a peacful one. He was content to listen to Jeff's rambling and Nick and Blaine's occasional comment. He didn't feel on edge. He didn't feel nervous. It just felt _nice._

"Kurt?" Blaine spoke quietly, snapping him out of his revere.

"Huh?" He looked over at Blaine, who was eyeing him carefully.

"You're sure nothing bad happened today?" He asked quietly, the worry clear on his face. He put his hand on top of Kurt's where it was resting on his thigh, and Kurt stiffened slightly. "First days can be a bit overwhelming, especially with..." He trailed off uncertianly, squeezing Kurt's hand.

Kurt looked down at their hands, then back up at Blaine's earnest expression. "It was fine, Blaine. Really." And he wasn't lying. It really had been good.

Blaine nodded and squeezed Kurt's hand gently again before withdrawing it and putting it back on the steering wheel, turning up the radio.

Nick watched the interaction between the boys and sighed quietly. It was obvious that Blaine was seriously crushing on Kurt. Lord knows that boy did not know how to conceal his emotions at all. But Nick was worried about Kurt. What if Blaine ended up being too eager and it scared Kurt away? Nick was worried that with all that Kurt had been through, he wouldn't even be able to reciprocate Blaine's feelings.

But Kurt didn't seem like he was uncomfortable when Blaine had grabbed his hand. In fact, Kurt had blushed and smiled and held his hand back. What did all of it mean? Was Kurt getting better?

Blaine pulled his car into the parking lot of the Lima Bean, parking next to David's car. "Alright, guys, here we are." He said, undoing his seatbelt and stepping out of the car. Kurt made to open his car door, but Blaine quickly raced around the car and tugged open the door before Kurt could. "I got it!" He said cheerfully. Nick rolled his eyes.

Kurt smiled and stood up out of the car, the four of them walking to the cafe.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

"So, be honest, Kurt." Wes said, settling into his seat next to David at the table. "What did you think of the Warbler's performance?"

"It was amazing!" Kurt said, a smile lighting up his face. He looked down at the table, his fingers tracing the soft wood. "The New Directions don't stand a chance." He added quietly.

"Were you ever a part of the new directions?" Blaine asked curiously, glancing over at Kurt. Kurt stiffened.

The Kurt that had been in the New Directions didn't feel like him anymore. It felt like an eternity ago that they had been plotting ways to get one more member to meet the required twelve that show choirs needed to compete. He remembered the day he had quit the Glee Club, and the disbelief on all of the member's faces. It felt like it had happened to another person.

 _Kurt was in shock. He couldn't feel anything._

 _He felt the physical pain, of course_ _. He could feel the deep, flaring ache inside of him every time he took a step. But the pain didn't feel like him._

 _He was numb._

 _Silent tears streamed down his face as he slowly limped down the deserted hallway. He couldn't believe it. He_ wouldn't _believe it._

 _Karofsky. Homophobic, neanderthal Karofsky, the one who relentlessly bullied and teased him for his sexualitly, had turned out to be..._

 _Kurt let out a choked sob._

 _He didn't know what he was going to tell the glee club. They were surely wondering where he was right about now. The thought of returning to the glee club, and sitting and chatting with Mercedes, and singing, felt unfathomable. He didn't think he could sing. He didn't think he could do anything._

 _He scrubbed at the tears on his cheeks as he stood outside of the choir room. He knew that he still looked extremly disshiveled, but he really didn't care. He really couldn't imagine caring about anything anymore. He opened the door_ _to the Glee Club and stepped inside._

 _Mr. Schue first noticed him enter. "Kurt! There you are!" He said, glancing over at him briefly before looking back at the whiteboard. "You're a bit late, but it's okay, because we haven't actually started yet."_

 _Surprisingly, it was Brittany who was the first to notice Kurt's wrinkled clothes and damp, lank hair. "Are you okay, Kurtie?" She asked, her eyebrows bunching up in concern. "You kind of look, like, not put together. What's wrong?"_

 _The other Glee clubbers turned towards him, their eyes studying his appearance critically._

 _"Yeah, you_ do _look like hell, Hummel." Puck said, folding his arms. "You alright?"_

 _"I..." Kurt tried to speak, but his throat felt as if it had closed up. He cleared his throat and tried again. "I'm... I'm quitting Glee club."_

 _Eleven pairs of dubious eyes stared_ _back at him._

 _Rachel spoke first. "Kurt, you... you can't quit!" She looked completly outraged at the idea. "Why on Earth would you quit?! We're already down one member, we can't lose another! How could you be so selfish?"_

 _"I just... don't w-want to be in glee anymore." Kurt said, a single tear leaking from his eye and streaking down his cheek. "I'm sorry, I just can't."_

 _"Kurt, is everything okay?" Mr. Schue asked, the concern clear on his face._

 _He wasn't okay. He wasn't anything close to okay. His life felt as if it was spiraling out of control, and he felt like he was desperatly trying to hold the pieces of his broken body together. He didn't think that he could ever be okay again._

 _He didn't say any of this. Instead, he wiped the tear off of his cheek and turned his head up. "I'm fine, Mr, Schue."_

That was the first day that his life started collapsing. He didn't even feel like that was him anymore.

"No." He lied, his voice voice barely more that a whisper. "I wasn't."

Blaine frowned at the change in Kurt's expression. "Well, you can always join the glee club here if you want!" He said, reaching out and grabbing Kurt's hand under the table.

Kurt glanced up at Blaine and felt his lips quirk up. He knew that he would never join the Warblers. But it was nice that Blaine cared so much about him.

"Alright, here's the coffee!" Jeff said suddenly, carrying a tray with six cups of coffee. "Kurt, your mocha."

"Oh, uh... thanks, Jeff." He said as Jeff slid the cup across the table to them and settled into his seat next to Nick. Kurt took a small sip, feeling the warmth bloom in his chest. It made him feel a bit better.

Jeff propped his elbow against Nick's shoulder. "So, you'll never believe what Mr. Salyers did today in gym."

The farmiliarity of it was comforting. Jeff chattering away, occasional nods from the rest of the group, and Kurt being the silent observer. It had become a routine with Kurt. He loved being around the other boys, and he loved how they had absorbed Kurt into their group with seemingly no trouble at all.

Kurt couldn't help but notice how close Nick and Jeff were to eachother, even in the middle of a conversation. Jeff was always playing with Nick's hair, or had an arm around his shoulder, and Nick absently tapped his fingers against Nick's thigh, or twined their fingers togetherover and over. It filled Kurt with a sort of aching happiness that he couldn't really explain.

Nick and Jeff were the perfect couple in Kurt's mind. Nick and Jeff had both gone through struggles, and it seemed as if they made eachother into better people because of it. Kurt really did wish to have that kind of unconditional love someday, and he hoped that it wasn't a selfish wish.

He knew it would never happen, given the circumstances. But it was still nice to imagine.

GLEEGLEEGLEEGLEEGLEE

The six of them all exited the cafe together, Wes and David still chattering about the setlist for sectionals. Kurt had gone silent again, absently fiddling with the lid of his empty coffee cup. He looked downcast.

"You okay, Kurt?" Blaine asked, tilting his head down to catch Kurt's eye. His eyes were clouded over, and he looked lost in thought.

Kurt's head snapped up. "Oh. Yeah. Fine" He shrugged, brushing a strand of his hair off of his forehead. "I'm okay." Blaine smiled at him, and he felt the farmiliar swooping in his chest.

"Hey look, it's Hummel!"

Blaine saw Kurt instantly freeze at the noise, his whole body tensing up. All six boys turned around to find themselves face to face with the last people that Kurt ever wanted to see. Three large, muscular teenagers in red letterman jackets, all sneering at Kurt.

 _Who were these boys?_ Wes glanced at Blaine, his eyes questioning, and Blaine shrugged bemusedly in response.

"What do you w-want from me, Azimio?" Kurt asked, his voice trembling slightly as he spoke to one of the boys in the group.

"What are you still running around here for, homo?" The boy, apparently called Azimio sneered. "Shouldn't you still be locked up in the nut house after your little stunt with Karofsky back at McKinley?"

Blaine didn't recognize the name, but he noticed both Kurt and Nick freeze as soon as he said it. Kurt's eyes got bigger, and Nick's eyes narrowed dangerously. He looked completly furious.

"Is there a problem here?" Blaine quickly asked as he stepped protectivly in front of Kurt, fighting to keep his tone mild.

"Aw, look, it's Kurt's _boyfriend."_ Said another one of the boys, laughing a cruel, cold laugh. "Bunch of fags, the lot of you."

"Excuse me." Wes said, also stepping foward in front of Kurt with a glare. "You have no right to talk to my friends like that."

Azimio rolled his eyes. "Whatever, fairies." He said before he and the other boys left.

"Thank god they're gone. You okay, Kurt?" Blaine asked, turning to glance at him. But Kurt's eyes had clouded over, and he was breathing in ragged gasps, his fingers digging into the inside of his palm.

"Kurt! Hey, Kurt, what's wrong?" Blaine put his hand cautiously on Kurt's shoulder, only to have it wrenched away.

"I... I can't..." He gasped, his breath eratic, "Can't breathe..."

"He's having a panic attack." Jeff said quickly, stepping in front of Blaine and looking into Kurt's eyes. "Kurt, I want you to sit on the ground and put your head in between your knees, okay?" He said softly. Kurt numbly obeyed, dropping to the ground and squeezing his head tightly. "Now, I'm going to touch you now, okay? I need you to try to match your breathing to mine." Jeff slowly took Kurt's hand and placed it on his own chest, taking a slow, exaggerated breath.

Kurt forced his own breathing to slow down, barely aware of Jeff's worried presence crouched beside him. All he could feel was the painful constricting in his chest, no doubt because of the lack of oxygen that was going to his lungs.

Jeff let out a sigh of relief when Kurt's breathing slowly became less eratic. "Are you okay, Kurt?" He asked softly.

Kurt slowly lifted his head, looking at Jeff. "Hey." He said quietly. "...Sorry for freaking out on you."

Jeff waved his hand dismissivly. "It's okay." He said, giving Kurt a smile and extending his hand. Kurt took it and hauled himself to his feet.

"Who _were_ those guys?" David asked, glancing back at where the boys had just retreated.

Kurt stiffened again. "J...just some neanderthals from m-my old school." He said, forcing his voice to stay calm.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Blaine asked worriedly.

Kurt gave his head a little shake and forced a smile on his face. "Yeah. Course I will." He said. "Come on, let's head back."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

 **Oof. I didn't like this chapter very much. (Besides the flashback because, as I have mentioned previously, I like writing flashbacks).**

 **So, Kurt has told the other boys that he wasn't in the new directions. How will Blaine find out that he was lying? I actually have several ideas, but I don't know which one I like the most.**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed anyway! Bye!**


	13. Chapter thirteen - Nightmares

Jeff sighed, combing his hand through his blonde hair as he stared at his math homework. The fuzzy numbers blurred between his eyes, sliding in and out of focus as he stared at them.

He couldn't concentrate. The encounter that they had with the three McKinley boys was eating away at his brain, and he felt as if he might actually explode from curiosity.

Who was Karofsky? That question had been plauging him since he got back from the cafe. He didn't realize why the name seemed so farmiliar at first, but then he remembered when Puck had come to visit Kurt...

 _Just because they're gay doesn't mean they're crazy like Karofsky was!"_

And now the name had been mentioned again, and it rekindled all of his curiosity about the mysterious boy.

Something had happened between Kurt and this Karofsky person, he was positive of it. But what it was... well, he didn't have the faintest clue.

He glanced up at his boyfriend, who was sitting cross legged on his bed and scrolling through his phone with a furrowed brow.

Nick definatly knew about whatever had gone on between Kurt and Karofsky. Jeff could tell from the way Nick's face had contorted in anger as soon as the football players had uttered his name. Nick knew about whatever had happened with Karofsky, and it whatever it was, it was something very bad.

Abandoning his math homework, he stood from his desk and walked over to Nick's bed and sat on the edge of it. "Hey, Nicky?" He said, scooting closer to him and wrapping his arms around his shoulders. Nick sighed in contentment and leaned into Jeff's chest. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, sure. What is it?"

Jeff hesitated only for a moment before he said, "... Who's Karofsky?"

Jeff felt Nick immidietly stiffen, and Jeff could hear the strain in his voice when hs replied. "I... I don't know who you're talking about, Jeff."

"You're lying to me." Jeff replied softly, taking his arms off of Nick's shoulders and swinging one leg over Nick, straddling his legs. Nick's face had gone impassive, and Jeff knew that was his face when he was trying to conceal his emotions. "I know that you know who he is, and I know that it has something to do with Kurt."

Jeff tried not to get distracted from the conversation at hand when Nick bit his lip nervously and looked down at his lap. "...You're right." He eventually said, looking back up at Jeff. "I do know who Karofsky is, and you're right, it does have to do with Kurt."

"Oh." Jeff wasn't expecting Nick to tell him the truth so easily. "...Can you tell me?"

Nick looked back at his lap, looking extremly conflicted. "I... I really don't think I can, Jeff." He said, tracing the lines on his phone case. "I sort of found out about it on accident, and I really wish that I didn't. I also don't really think that Kurt wants us to know yet, and he doesn't exactly know that _I_ know. So..."

"Nick, it's okay." He said quietly, reaching out to touch Nick's cheek. Nick placed his hand over Jeff's, running his thumb across his palm. "You don't have to tell me. I was just curious, is all. I don't want to hurt you, or Kurt."

Nick smiled. "Thank you, Jeff. I know it's must be frustrating. Just... thanks for understanding."

Jeff smiled back and leaned in to kiss Nick's nose. "It's okay, love." He said. "It's alright."

But Jeff's curiosity was now worse than ever. Whatever it was, if Nick couldn't even tell him, it must have been extremely bad.

What was wrong with Kurt?

GLEEGLEEGLEE

 _The dream was different yet again._

 _But this time, it didn't seem like a nightmare at first. He was on the stage at sectionals. He was dead center, standing in the dark, all of the New Directions standing behind him. The audience was empty, but there was still a feeling of pressure lingering in the air. But Kurt wasn't nervous. He had prepared for this._

 _He slowly stepped up to the michrophone, the spotlight glaring into his face. He cleared his throat, opened his mouth to start singing, and -_

 _A large hand clamped itself over Kurt's mouth_.

 _His eyes widened. He tried to scream, but the hand at his mouth smothered the sound completly._

 _"Shut up, Hummel." Karofsky growled into his ear, the hand that wasn't at his mouth slowly moving up to caress Kurt's cheek. The gesture was disgustingly gentle. "We don't want anyone to hear us, do we?"_

 _Kurt whimpered quietly, closing his eyes as they filled with tears._

 _"Kurt, why aren't you singing?!" Rachel demanded from behind him. "You're going to blow it for all of us if you don't even sing! I knew we should have never given you that solo. I knew that you would screw it up, just like you screw everything up!"_

 _Kurt desperatly tried to tell her that he_ wanted _to sing, that he really was trying to talk to her, but Karofsky's hand was still clamped around his mouth and all he could do was let out choked sobs. He saw Blaine stand up in the audience - when did he get here? - and shake his head sadly at Kurt._

 _"Come on, Kurt. You're letting everybody down. You're letting_ me _down." He continued to shake his head. "You just let everyone down, don't you Kurt?"_

 _Kurt shook his head violently, willing Blaine to understand, but Blaine just gave Kurt a sad smile before he left the auditorium._

 _"Alright." Karofsky said, removing his hand from Kurt's cheek and sliding it down to grip Kurt's crotch. Kurt screamed, thrashing desperatly, but it was no use. "Now that your boyfriend's gone, we can have some fun..."_

"NO!"

Blaine jolted awake, staring around wildly for the source of the shout that had woken him up. It took him only a second to realize that the shout had come from Kurt. Kurt was still asleep, but he was tossing restlessly in his bed, his face flushed, and he was whimpering. Blaine glanced at the clock and saw that it was 3:47 in the morning. _What on earth._..?

"Kurt?" He said, quickly standing out of his bed and rushing over to Kurt.

Kurt's face was one of utter terror, and Blaine could now hear what Kurt was whispering. "Please, please, stop, nonononono..."

 _Nightmare._ Blaine felt his heart twist at the desperate tone of Kurt's voice.

"Kurt!" Blaine repeated loudly. "Kurt, wake up, you're having a nightmare."

Kurt just moaned again. "Please, stop, STOP! DON'T TOUCH ME!" He said loudly.

"KURT!" Blaine shouted desperatly, reaching out and shaking Kurt's shoulder.

Kurt gasped and shot up in bed, his hand flying up to his mouth, breathing heavily. His wide eyes darted around the room before they settled on Blaine's face. The panicked look was gone, and it had been replaced with one of confusion. "Blaine? What... what happened?"

Blaine realized that his hands were still on Kurt's shoulders, and he blushed and hastily withdrew them. "You, uh..." He started uncertainly, "You... you had a nightmare. You were... talking."

Kurt's expression went from confused to mortified. He groaned and put his head in his hands. "Oh god, Blaine, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up! I usually don't talk when I have nightmares."

"U-usually?" Blaine repeated. He reached out and took Kurt's hands away from his face, and Kurt stiffened. "Kurt, how often do you have nightmares like this?"

Kurt sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "...Pretty much every night." Kurt muttered, not meeting Blaine's eyes.

"Every night?" Blaine said worriedly. "Kurt, why didn't you tell me?"

"Blaine, I've known you for three days. It's not exactly the kind of thing that you can just bring up in casual conversation." Kurt's voice was laced with sarcasm, even through the trembling.

There was silence for a few more moments. "Well... do you want to... talk about it now?" Blaine wanted to smack himself. Jesus, he couldn't sound more awkward if he tried.

Kurt let out a long sigh. "... I don't think so, Blaine. I think I'm just gonna go back to sleep."

"Are you sure?"

Kurt gave Blaine an tired smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Yeah, Blaine. I'm okay, really. You should just go back to sleep."

"O-okay, Kurt." He said, giving him one last worried look before going and laying back down in his own bed. "...Goodnight, Kurt."

There was a pause. "...Goodnight, Blaine."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Kurt woke up again somewhere around six in the morning, at first not remembering why he felt so awful, then... _oh._

Blaine had seen his nightmare. Blaine _knew._ The thing that he swore he would never let his roomate find out about, and he had found after four nights. God, he was so _stupid!_ Blaine probably thought that he was crazy...

He slowly stood up, noting as he did so that Blaine was still asleep, and walked over to the shower.

When he was done, he put on his Dalton uniform and exited the bathroom, bracing himself for the thousands of questions that he was likely to get from Blaine. He didn't really think that Blaine would make fun of him for it anymore, but that didn't make it any less mortifying.

Blaine was already dressed and ready for class, and he was sitting on the bed and tapping his fingers anxiously against his thigh. He lept up when he saw Kurt.

"Hey, Kurt! You ready to go?" He didn't bring up the nightmare at all. He just reached out and touched Kurt's shoulder briefly, giving him a reassuring smile. "We should go get some breakfast."

Kurt's stomach was growling, but he shook his head. He didn't feel like eating right now. "N-no, thanks, I'm not really hungry..."

"Are you sure, Kurt?" He asked, looking a bit worried. "You haven't really eaten much at all since you got here."

Kurt shrugged and looked at the floor. It was weird, but he really hadn't started skipping meals until he arrived at Dalton. After his dad found out about _it,_ he had been breathing down Kurt's neck to make sure he was still eating three meals a day and refused to leave until he had eaten, and Kurt honestly didn't have the energy to protest at the time. But now that no one was making sure he was eating properly, he honestly didn't see the point in eating unless he absolutly had to.

But it wasn't a problem or anything, he reassured himself. It's not like he was _refusing_ to eat or purposfully starving himself.

"Well... can you at least try to eat something? For me?" Blaine asked. He gave Kurt his best puppy dog face, and Kurt smiled a little in spite of himself.

"...Maybe." He said, making Blaine's face relax a bit. "Come on, let's go."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

 **This chapter literally took SO LONG TO WRITE. I don't even know why, but I got stuck about halfway through and didn't add anything for like, three days. But I had to finish it in time for thr schedual that I created for myself.** **I've been so freaking busy with school that I've been bled dry of any inspiration.**

 **On another note** **, I was thinking that sometime in the future when I'm not so busy, I might start a new story. I don't have too much inspiration at the moment** **, but I was thinking of either doing a Klaine "one more night" fic (if you don't know what that is, look it up on youtube. It is a fan edit and it is AMAZING) or maybe something WolfStar/Harry Potter related? I don't know, but either way I would want it to be multi-chaptered. I love writing this story, but it gets a little boring when it's the only thing I'm doing!**

 **Please review! I really appriciate it. Thank you!**


	14. Chapter fourteen - curious and curiouser

The rest of the week passed surprisingly quickly for Kurt. When he was at McKinley, the days seemed to drag on and on, even before _it,_ but now the days seemed to rush passed in the blink of an eye. Kurt could often be seen holed up in the library, books surrounding him as he attempted to keep up with the workload that he had missed when he hadn't been going to school. Friday afternoon he sat in the library, all of his homework for the day finished, and he finally allowed himself to think about sectionals.

Should he go? Blaine had wanted him to go, and it would be nice to see the Warblers and New Directions perform, but he hadn't been anywhere as public as sectionals since _it._ And his dad might not even let him go at all...

He checked his watch. 10 minutes until his dad was supposed to be here to pick him up. He slowly closed his history textbook and stood up, putting the books back on the shelf. When he turned around and walked to the doorway, he accidentally collided with someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I - Kurt?" It was Blaine. Blaine looked a bit surprised for a moment before smiling. "What are you doing here? Aren't you going home for the weekend?"

Kurt smiled. "Yeah, my dad is picking me up in a few minutes, so I was just heading out."

"Well, why don't I walk you out?" Blaine asked, reaching out and taking Kurt's hand. "All of the Warblers are staying here for the weekend because of sectionals. Are you... going to come?" Blaine looked hopeful.

Right. Sectionals. "... I don't know, Blaine." Kurt said honestly, fidgeting a little bit. "I have to ask my dad to drive me, since I don't really have my car any more. But... I don't know."

For a split second Blaine looked slightly downcast, but he quickly recovered and put a big smile on his face. "Well, I'd love to see you there if you decide to show!" He said, tugging Kurt's hand and leading him out of the library.

They walked down the hallways and toward the front entrance, where Kurt's dad was going to pick him up. Occasionally Blaine would glance over at him and give him a quick, reassuring grin, but they were both silent.

When the opened the front door and stepped outside, they were surprised to see Nick and Jeff also outside, both sitting on a bench next to the wall. Jeff had his arm propped against Nick's shoulder, and they were both staring intently at a piece of paper that Nick was holding.

"Hey, guys! What are you doing out here?" Blaine asked curiously, him and Kurt walking over to stand at the edge of the sidewalk.

Jeff glanced up and grinned. "We wanted to look over the sheet music for 'Hey, Soul Sister' again, and it was nice out, so we decided to do it out here. What are you doing out here, Blaine? You know that we have to stay here for the weekend."

"I know!" Blaine said cheerfully, swinging his hand that was in Kurt's slightly. "I was just walking Kurt out. His dad's gonna pick him up soon."

Jeff glanced over at Kurt, and something briefly curious flickered in his gaze, but it was gone in an instant, and he was smiling again. "Well, don't let us bother you." He said, looking back at the paper in Nick's hand.

Blaine turned back over to Kurt, who still had his eyes trained on the road. "Hey, you gonna be okay at your dads?" He asked, nudging Kurt's shoulder. He hadn't forgotten the hand-shaped bruise on Kurt's wrist.

Kurt looked at Blaine and smiled, softly nudging his shoulder back. "Course I will." He said reassuringly. "I'll be fine."

"Kurt!"

Kurt started, yanking his hand from Blaine's as he turned around. His dad's car was pulled up next to the sidewalk, and the window was rolled down all the way. Blaine looked at Kurt curiously. "M-my dad." Kurt said, somewhat apologetically, and Blaine nodded.

"Come on, kiddo, it's time to go." Burt said, casting a curious glance at Blaine.

"Well... I guess I might see you tomorrow, Blaine." Kurt said, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"Wait! Don't go yet!" Blaine said, pulling a paper and pen from his pocket and uncapping the pen with his teeth. He scribbled something down on the paper and pressed it into Kurt's hand. "My number. So you can text me."

"Oh, I..." Kurt didn't know what to say. Blaine was giving Kurt his number? "Th..thanks, Blaine." Blaine smiled, and Kurt gave him, Nick and Jeff a small departing wave before turning around to walk to his dad's car.

Blaine turned to look at Nick and Jeff, and saw that Jeff's eyes were still on Kurt's retreating figure. He had a confused frown on his face, as if he was trying to work something out.

"Jeff, what's wrong?" Blaine asked, walking over to sit on the bench next to them.

Jeff was silent for a moment before responding. "...Did you notice how Kurt fast Kurt pulled his hand out of yours when he heard his dad pull up?"

Blaine frowned. "Yeah, I guess so. Why?"

"Doesn't that bother you, Blaine? The fact that he jumped when he heard his dad pull up? That, combined with the bruise I saw on his neck, it's just... I don't know. I'm really worried."

"Yeah, I'm worried to." Blaine said with a sigh, leaning back against the bench. "What do you think, Nick?"

Nick's expression had gone oddly strained. "...I don't think we should jump to conclusions." He said slowly. "It could be... something else. We shouldn't assume that it has to do with his father."

"Well, what else could it _be,_ Nick?" Blaine asked. "The bullying at his old school can explain his skittishness, but what other explaination is there for the bruise on his neck?"

Nick just pursed his lips and looked away, not saying anything. Blaine sighed again and stood up. "I'm going to the choir room. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Bye, Blaine."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Kurt opened the passenger side door to his dad's car and carefully stepped inside and sat down.

"Hey, kiddo. How was your first week at Dalton?" Burt asked immidietly as Kurt buckled his seatbelt, worry creased in between his eyebrows.

Kurt smiled, closing his eyes as his dad started the car and began to drive. "It was amazing, dad." Kurt said. And it really had been amazing.

Burt looked relieved. "That's great, Kurt." He said, reaching out to toustle Kurt's hair and smiling when Kurt scowled and flattened it out again. "So... who were those boys you were just with?"

Kurt paused a moment, glancing over at his father. That was his 'protective papa bear' voice. "...Just a few friends of mine. Nick, Jeff, and Blaine."

Burt looked a bit surprised. "How'd you meet them? They in your classes?"

"Blaine is my roomate, and Nick and Jeff are friends of his."

"Well, that's... that's great, kiddo. That's great." Burt looked relieved. "No one's picking on you?"

Kurt couldn't refrain from rolling his eyes, even though it was a valid question. "No, dad. Everyone's great. Just like the dean said it would be."

"Well... good. That's good, Kurt."

Kurt glanced down at his right hand, where the scrap of paper with Blaine's number on it was still clenched tightly. "...Yeah." He said. "It is."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

"Kurt! You're back!" The moment Kurt stepped in the door, he was crushed in a hug from his over-enthusiastic step brother. He stiffened a bit in surprise, then wrapped his arms gingerly around Finn in return.

"Finn... Finn, air is becoming an issue!" Kurt said, thought he was smiling widely as Finn pulled back and gave him a lopsided grin.

"Sorry, dude. I just missed you." Kurt scrunched his nose up at the nickname, but didn't comment. "How are you, Kurt? Are you okay? Is there anyone's ass that I need to kick?"

"No, Finn." Kurt said, rolling his eyes a bit. "I'd prefer it if you'd keep your homicidal instincts out of my new school."

"It's not homicidal!" Finn said indignantly. "We're brothers now, so it's my job to protect you." Kurt just raised an eyebrow, and Finn laughed. "Oh, by the way, Puck came to visit earlier, so you can talk to him if you want. He's in my room."

Kurt's face lit up, and he quickly ran up the stairs and pushed open the door to Finn's room. Puck was sprawled out on Finn's bed with a controller in hand, playing some sort of shooting game that Kurt would never understand the rules to, despite Finn's many attempts to teach him. Puck turned at the door opening, his face brightening when he was Kurt. "Hey, Hummel!" He said, sitting up and pressing the _pause_ button on the tv.

"Hey, Noah!" Kurt said, giving Puck a small wave and lowering himself into the rolling chair next to Finn's bed. "Please try to refrain from hugging me. Finn nearly crushed me in the hallway a few minutes ago."

"I'll try to control myself." Puck said with a grin, sitting up on the bed and turning to face Kurt. "So, how are you liking Dalton? Curly haired hobbit giving you any trouble?"

Kurt made a face. "Don't call him that. And he's been perfectly friendly."

"Alright. But the moment he lays a _finger_ on you..." He cracked his knuckles pointedly. "You let me know, yeah?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Yes, mother." He said sarcastically. "Do you guys think that the New Directions are ready for sectionals?"

Puck groaned. "It's a total disaster. I gueaa it's technically partially my fault for making out with Rachel, but her and Finn are just so pissed at each other, I don't think they'll be able to pull it together in time." He sighed and fell back onto the bed, letting his head hit the pillow. "What about the group at your school? The... what're they called, the Garglers? They any good?"

"The warblers." Kurt corrected. "And yes, actually, they are, so the New Directions better watch out."

"Yeah, yeah." Puck said, turning back to the tv. "Wanna play a round of Call of Duty?"

"There is literally nothing that I'd rather do less."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Kurt stood just outside the of the living room, rocking nervously on the balls of his feet as he watched his dad, who was sitting on the couch watching football.

He was just going to ask if he could go to sectionals. That was all. He would just ask, and if his dad said no, then that would be that. It would be fine.

"Er... dad?"

Burt sat up quickly, fumbling for the remote and pausing the tv. "Yeah, kiddo, what's up? You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just..." Kurt licked his lips nervously. "I was... wondering if you would maybe drive me to sectionals tomorrow?"

Burt's eyebrows dissapeared into his baseball cap. "Sectionals?" He repeated. "You want to go to sectionals?"

"Well, yeah." Kurt said, already feeling heat creep into his cheeks. "M-my roomate is part of the Warblers, and it would be nice to see Santana and Brittany again, and I just thought..."

"Kurt, if you really want to go to sectionals, I'll let you take the navigator, just for tomorrow night. But... are you really sure you want to? You haven't been anywhere public like sectionals since..."

"I know." Kurt said quickly, looking down at the floor. "But... I really want to go, to support my friends."

Burt still looled a bit hesitant, but he said, "Alright, kiddo, if you've got your heart set on going, I'll let you go. But make sure you're back by nine, okay? And that kid, your roomate... what's his name, Blaise?"

"Blaine."

"Right. Make sure you stick by him, yeah? I don't want you alone."

Kurt smiled. "Thanks, dad."

Burt smiled back. "You're welcome, kid." He said. "Now, let's see what Carole's making for dinner, yeah."

Kurt sighed, but didn't argue as he followed his dad into the kitchen. He knew that his dad would probably make him eat a bowl, regardless of what he said.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

 **Eh, I wasn't a huge fan of this chapter.** **I've been having a bit of a hard week. I won't bore you all with my tales of woe, but it's nice to be able to write and forget things for a while. I wanted to include sectionals in this chapter, but I realized that my plan for sectionals would be too long to fit in this chapter. So, the chapter is complete, and hopefully sectionals will be enough for its own chapter.**

 **So, I think I've pretty much worked out how each of the remaining Warblers (Jeff, Wes, David, and Blaine) will figure out about Kurt. For Blaine, I'm not sure if I want him to figure it out on his own or if I want Kurt to tell him. What do you guys think? What do you think would be more entertaining to read? Please let me know, I love feedback!**

 **See you next week!**


	15. Chapter fifteen - Sectionals

**I made Rachel a jerk in this chapter. I realize it may be seen as OOC, but I just really hate Rachel. Like, really. I don't like her. That's all. Enjoy the chapter!**

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Kurt drummed his fingers on the edge of his steering wheel as he sat in his navigator, in the parking lot out side of the place where sectionals would be. He tapped his foot irregularly on the car floor, stalling his time until he had to get out and go inside.

He wasn't _scared,_ really. It would be a bit uncomfortable being around so many people without Blaine right next to him as a lifeline, but he would survive. And he really wanted to see Blaine and the warblers perform, he _really_ wanted to.

But he was worried about running into anyone from the New Directions. It would be horrible, and awkward, and they would claim that _of course it wouldn't be weird between them_ and _we should totally catch up sometime!_ and then they would never call him. Kurt had accepted the fact that once the truth got out about Karofsky, he would probably lose most of his friends, but it still caused a painful twanging feeling in his chest every time he remembered how close they used to be.

He unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the car door, stepping out of his car and glancing around at the lot. It was full of cars, but there were no people rushing inside the doors. Kurt had waited until the very last minute to head inside so he could avoid the rush of everybody scrambling to find seats, and he could slip into a nice abandoned seat in the back unnoticed, and hopefully he could go through the entire show without encountering the New Directions.

Yeah. It would be fine.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

As he suspected, he arrived in the auditorium just as the lights were dimming and the warblers were getting ready to perform. He quickly slipped into a seat and settled in, looking ahead at the stage.

" - and here are, the Dalton academy Warblers!"

The curtians were opened, and the spotlight was put on the warblers, who were singing the intro to 'Hey, Soul sister'. Of course, it was amazing. Blaine was amazing.

Just as Blaine was about to start singing, he caught Kurt's eye in the audience, and his face lit up. He gave Kurt a big smile that Kurt couldn't help but return before he faced the rest of the audience and started to sing.

Kurt was stunned. He'd heard the warblers sing "Teenage Dream", but that had been impromtu with barely amy rehersal. When they actually prepared for things, it was... breathtaking.

 _Wonderful._ The word automatically came to Kurt's brain when he saw Blaine singing and dancing with the rest of the Warblers. _Just wonderful._

"We're doomed."

Kurt's head snapped down at the farmiliar whispered voice, and he felt his stomach give an odd jolt. There, only a few rows ahead of him, was Rachel Berry and the New Directions. Kurt instinctively slumped down in his seat, but they didn't appear to have spotted him. The rest of the New Directions turned at the sound of Rachel speaking.

"The warblers are way too good." Rachel continued in a hushed whisper. "With Mr. Schue not even letting me have the solo I deserve, and Kurt transferred away from McKinley -"

Kurt saw some of the new directions shift uncomfortably in their seats at the mention of his name.

"We're doomed!" She finished, throwing her hands in the air. "Why couldn't Kurt just suck it up and stay at McKinley at least until sectionals? Karofsky's not even here anymore, why did he even need to transfer? This is all his fault."

Kurt saw Santana's eyes narrow dangerously. "I'm sorry, hobbit, I just can't handle the utter crap that's coming out of your mouth anymore." She said, speaking in the harshest whisper that she could muster. "Do you even hear yourself? Do you have any clue what Kurt had to go through every day at McKinley, even before the thing with Karofsky? I mean, boohoo, you get a slushee tossed in your face a few times a week. Kurt got assaulted at Mckinley every day. And people are still saying that it's his fault, saying that he 'turned Karofsky gay' and that he 'asked for it.' So don't you dare pin this on Kurt just because we were too self absorbed to see that there was something wrong with him."

A shocked silence followed Santana's speech, and Kurt was stunned. Stunned that Rachel still thought so low of him, that the boys at McKinley still talked about what happened between him and Karofsky, that Santana would think to stand up for him even when he was gone.

He heard clapping around and was vaugely aware that the warblers had finished performing, but he was still in a slight daze as the New Directions all slipped out of their seats to prepare for their show. But all thoughts were immidietly driven out of his mind when the curtians opened again and he heard Quinn and Sam start singing. Quinn's voice was trembling a bit, but her voice and Sam's were a perfect blend. And then they were all on stage, dancing, and Kirt forgot about how obnoxious Rachel was for a moment because they were honestly _so good._

And suddenly Santana had the microphone, and a smile spread across his face as she started to sing her solo and Brittany and Mike started dancing. Brittany had a huge grin plastered across her face, and Santana had the perfect facial expressions and movements for the song she was singing. It was perfect.

 _I should be up there_ , a small voice in his head said, _I should be singing._

He pushed the voice aside. He didn't sing anymore, much less with the New Directions.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Kurt glanced around anxiously, trying to avoid bumping into anybody as he searched for Blaine backstage. He technically wasn't supposed to be there, but no one was kicking him out, and he wanted to find The Warblers. He walked past a small group of elderly people who looked rather confused before spotting Blaine's farmiliar curly head. "Blaine!" He called out.

Blaine turned around, grinning widely when he saw who it was. He rushed over to Kurt. "Kurt! You made it!" His smile looked as if it would split his face. "Be honest, how do you think we did?"

"You... you were amazing!" Kurt said. "You all were. I'm glad that I decided to come."

"Me too." Blaine said, and Kurt felt his insides do an odd flip in his stomach.

"Kurtie!"

Kurt turned around and had barely registered who had said his name before he had an armful of blonde cheerleader. Brittany Pierce had launched herself at him, and Kurt only stiffened for a moment before wrapping his arms tightly around her in return.

"Kurtie, I'm so happy you came!" She said, pulling back and smiling at Kurt. "Did you see me dancing, Kurt? I didn't even need my magic comb!"

"I know, Britt." Kurt said fondly, reaching out and patting Brittany on the head. "You did so good." Brittany beamed.

Blaine had an expression of such utter bewildermant on his face that Kurt couldn't help but giggle slightly. "Um, Blaine, this is Brittany, one of my friends." He said, gesturing towards Brittany. "Britt, this is Blaine, my roomate."

"Um..." Blaine said, recovering himself quickly and smiling at Brittany. "H-hello, Brittany, it's nice to meet you."

"Hi!" She said, giving Blaine a little wave. "Are you friends with Kurtie?"

"Yes, I am." Blaine said. Kurt beamed.

"So, what are doing over here, Britt?" Kurt asked, turning back to look at Brittany.

"Well, I had to use the bathroom, but when I came back I got lost and couldn't find Santana." Brittany frowned briefly, before smiling again. "You should say hi to Santana! She really misses you."

"Oh, I don't think so, Britt." He said. Saying hi to Santana would mean having to say hi to the rest of the New Directions, too. "Maybe some other time."

"Britt! There you are." Kurt turned around just in time to see Santana poke her head around a rack of clothes. "Come on, Britt, Rachel wants us to listen outside the door of the judges room to see of we can tell who they're gonna vote for." Santana grabbed Brittany's hand and started to pull Brittany away.

"Bye, Kurtie!" Brittany said, waving over her shoulder as Santana led her away. "We all really miss you! The New Directions isn't the same without you!" And with that, she was gone.

Blaine looked at Kurt sharply, and it took Kurt a moment to register why. Then he realized what Brittany just said.

 _"The New Directions isn't the same without you!"_

Oh no.

"Kurt... you were in the New Directions?" Blaine said. "I thought you said you weren't."

"I..." Kurt felt frozen as he tried to make his panicing brain work . He couldn't think of anything to say. He had lied.

"I'm sorry, Blaine..." Kurt turned on his heel and ran away.

"Kurt, wait! _Kurt!"_

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Kurt sat on the hood of his navigator, his knees drawn to his chest and his arms around his legs. It was dark, he was tired and cold, and his dad had told him not to go outside alone, but he couldn't bring himself to move. He felt miserable.

He had _lied_ to Blaine. He had completely, outright lied to his best friend at his new school, and Blaine had found out about it. Why couldn't he for once think about what he was doing before he did it? He was such an idiot. And now he didn't even get to see who won, and Blaine was probably mad at him...

He didn't notice that he was no longer alone until he felt a warm hand cover his own. He stiffened and glanced over. Blaine was sitting on the car next to him, staring at him with an expression that Kurt couldn't quite describe. "Hey." He whispered, squeezing Kurt's hand.

"Hey." Kurt replied, looking down at his lap. There was a beat of silence. "...Who won?"

"It was a tie." Blaine said, looking straight ahead at the dark sky. "Between the Warblers and the New Directions. We both get to go to reigonals."

"Oh, that's... that's great, Blaine."

"Yeah." Blaine agreed.

There was silence for a few more moments.

Then came the question that Kurt had been anticipating. "... Kurt, why did you tell me that you weren't in the new directions?" He asked, looking back at Kurt and meeting his eyes once again.

 _Why did I?_ Looking back, there really was no logical explain for why he had lied to Blaine. He just hadn't wanted to bring up that particular part of his past, so he had lied. He could have justified it at the time, but he felt stupid now.

"I..." He quickly fumbled for an excuse to tell Blaine. "I just... I quit about a month before I even transfered, and I was worried that if I told you, you would try to get me to join the Warblers, and... I just don't sing anymore, so it doesn't really matter."

"Kurt, I would never pressure you to do something that you didn't want to." Blaine squeezed Kurt's hand again, and Kurt felt like an idiot. "I don't want you to feel like you have to hide anything from me. You can tell me anything, you know that, right?"

Kurt felt his heartrate quicken for a reason he couldn't describe. They were here, they were alone, and Blaine had just said that Kurt could tell him anything. Kurt could just say it, tell Blaine the real reason that he transfered, and it would be over. If there was ever a good time to tell Blaine, now was it.

"Blaine..." Blaine raised his eyebrows expectantly. Kurt's mouth felt dry, and his hands were sweating. He took in a deep breath. "Blaine, I have to tell you somethi - "

"Guys!" They both quickly turned to see the rest of the Warblers exiting the building, Wes in the lead and a large trophy in his hand. "We're going out to celebrate our win, Blaine! You have to be there." He looked over at Kurt and grinned. "Hey, Kurt, I'm glad you could make it! Wanna come with us? It'll be fun."

Kurt sighed. He had been _so close_ to telling Blaine, and now the moment was broken. Now he didn't think he'd ever build up the courage to do it again.

Blaine looked over at Kurt and gave him an apologetic smile. "We can talk later, if you want?" He said, sliding off the roof of Kurt's car and extending a hand to help him.

Kurt took Blaine's hand and allowed Blaine to help him. "It's fine. It wasn't anything important." He squeezed Blaine's hand. "Come on, let's go."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Jeff was not enjoying their sectionals victory as much as the other Warblers as they all paraded loudly to the nearest resturaunt to celebrate. Something had seemed... _off_ about Kurt when they had approached him earlier, and as much as Jeff tried to forget about it, he couldn't.

He stared at the back of Kurt's head frustratedly, his head trying to fit together all of the puzzle pieces about the mysterious boy.

Kurt reached up to scratch his head, and Jeff frowned as Kurt's collar rid up and exposes a reddish mark on Kurt's neck. He tilted his head, trying to identify it from the position he was. At first he thought that it was another bruise, but his eyes widened in shock when he realized what it actually was.

It was a bite mark.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

 **This last bit literally JUST popped into my head as I was finishing up this chapter. I was getting bored with Nick being the only one that knew, so I decided to switch things up a bit. We'll see Jeff's reaction in the next chapter.**

 **Until then... goodbye, my wonderful readers!**


	16. Chapter sixteen - Puzzle Pieces

_What the hell did that mean?_

A bite mark on Kurt's neck. Where could that have possibly come from?

Jeff tried to recall what it had looked like as he sat at an IHop table with the rest of the Warblers. Him and Nick were seated at the edge of the table, so none of the Warblers had noticed his uncharacreristic quietness.

What had it looked like? It looked reddish and scabbed over, so it didn't seem like anything that had happened too recently. It was too small to be a dog bite, and Kurt didn't even have a dog at home. And even if he did, why would it be on his neck?

No, the mark definatly looked as if it had been made by a human.

But who?

It couldn't have been an ex boyfriend, because Kurt had mentioned in one of their conversations at lunch that he had never dated anyone, before going very pink and hastily changing the subject. It could have just been from a hookup, but Kurt didn't seem like the type who would hook up with someone who wasn't a boyfriend.

But if it wasn't from any of those things, then what could it possibly...?

And then it all fell into place.

Jeff suddenly shot up in his chair, eyes wide earning himself a confused glance from Nick.

"You okay, Jeff?" He said worriedly, putting a hand on Jeff's arm. "You've been a bit out of it all night. What's wrong?"

"U-um..." Jeff said distractedly, his mind still reeling from his sudden, monumental discovery. "I-I'm fine, love, I just... I'll be right back, okay?"

"O-okay, but - " Jeff was already out of his chair and hurriedly racing towards the front door, nearly knocking into a short brunette, who was leading large group of teenagers into the building.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" The girl said crossly, but Jeff was already out the door, collapsing onto a bench and putting his head into his hands.

 _Holy shit._

GLEEGLEEGLEE.

"Oh no." Kurt groaned quietly as he saw the New Directions enter the building as Jeff exited, all of them cheering loudly and clapping one another on the back, celebrating their victory.

Kurt quickly tried to shrink down in his seat and remain unspotted, but Brittany had already spotted him and said loudly, "Hi, Kurtie!"

Both the Warblers and the New Directions turned when they heard Brittany say his name. Kurt felt his face grow hot, and he could tell that they were all about as pleased to see him as he was to see them. Their eyes all widened, and they looked as if they didn't quite know what to say.

"Um... hi, Britt." Kurt said, noting that all of the Warblers were staring at them curiously, no doubt trying to figure out how Kurt and Brittany knew each other.

The New Directions, meanwhile, were glancing at each other nervously, as if silently deciding who was going to say something to Kurt. Puck waved, Santana gave Kurt a small smile, but didn't say anything to him.

"Hey, Kurt." Artie said finally. "It's... it's good to see you again. We've all missed you in glee club."

"Wait." Wes interjected, "I thought Kurt said he wasn't in the glee cl - ? "

But Blaine gave him a pointed look, and he quickly fell silent and looked at his lap.

"Yeah." Kurt said, nodding his head. "I've missed you guys, too."

"We've wanted to get in contact with you, Kurt, we really have." Mercedes said in a strained voice. "It's just that, with everything that happened, we weren't sure if you wanted - "

"It's fine." Kurt cut in, his voice sharper than he intended it to be. "You don't have to explain. I understand."

There was a few beats of silence, the awkwardness practically tagible in the air.

Brittany, apparently oblivious to all of it, trotted over to Kurt and kissed his cheek. Kurt flushed again. "We have to go now, Kurtie. Mr. Schue is getting our stuff right now, and we're gonna miss the bus if we stay any longer. I'll see you soon!"

"O-okay, bye Britt - " But Mr. Schue had already ushered them out of the door, saying that they had to hurry or they would miss the bus.

Kurt groaned and slid all the way down in his chair, covering his face with his hands. "That," he said to no one in particular, "Was the most awkward thing I've ever endured." Not technically true, but it definatly felt like it at the moment.

"Are those your friends from the New Directions?" Blaine asked as the rest of the Warblers slowly resumed their conversation.

"'Friends' isn't exactly the term I would use," Kurt muttered, a slight scowl on his face, "But yes, I do know them."

"Why did it seem like they... really didn't want to talk to you? I mean, you seem really close to that Brittany girl, but the rest just seemed a bit... distant."

"Well, it's been a bit weird around most of them ever since I left McKinley." Kurt hesitated for a moment and glanced around, as if to check if anyone was listening, before he said quietly, "I didn't come to Dalton for the curriculum, you know."

It took Blaine a moment to figure out what Kurt meant, but then he realized. Kurt was talking about the bullying at his old school. He reached out to take Kurt's hand. "Yeah, I figured." He said.

Kurt tilted his head to the side and shot him an inquisitive look. "How could you tell?" He asked curiously.

Blaine sighed. "You acted a lot like I did when I first came to Dalton." Kurt's eyes widened. "Yeah, I was bullied. Shocker, I know. I'm much better now, but I was a bit of a train wreck when I first transfered." Kurt smiled a bit. "But Dalton is a great place to be away from all of that."

"Sometimes it doesn't feel like that, though." Kurt said with a sigh, looking down at the table. "Sometimes, it feels like I'm... I dunno, running away, or something." He traced the lines of the table cloth sullenly. "Things at my old school were pretty bad, but the person who... well, the person who bullied me the most isn't even there anymore. Sometimes I just feel like a coward for leaving."

"Kurt, you don't have anything to be ashamed of." Blaine said firmly, putting his hand under Kurt's chin and tilting his head up. Kurt looked a bit startled. "We all need our time to heal, and you can't do that if you're still at the place that broke you in the first place. You didn't run away, Kurt. You shouldn't feel guilty."

They were both silent for a moment after that. Kurt didn't even know what to say to that.

"Alright, gang!" Wes said loudly, breaking Kurt and Blaine out of their revere. "Unless we want to miss the bus, I suggest we get a move on. Let's go!"

GLEEGLEEGLEE

 _Holy shit._

It was all falling into place now. All of those little, nagging details about Kurt that hadn't made sense before were all falling into place, filling in the pieces of the puzzle to make one shocking, devastating conclusion.

Kurt was an emergancy transfer. That by itself wasn't unusual for Dalton. But from the moment he had layed eyes on the blue-eyed boy, he knew something was different.

The way he jumped when people touched him.

The bruise on his neck.

The stiff way of walking, as if he was constantly in pain.

Nick's off behavior. Nick had figured out what had happened, and that's why he had been so upset that night and asking all of those weird questions, and that's why he didn't want to confirm their theory about Kurt's father, but he refused to tell them any alternative.

The bite mark.

 _Karofsky._

"Holy shit." Jeff whispered, putting his head between his hands and tugging on his hair, feeling as if someone had tugged his heart out of his chest

Kurt had been raped.

"Jeff?"

Jeff's head shot up. Nick was standing over him, a concerned frown on his face, his hand outstretched. The rest of the Warblers were heading to the bus, which was parked outside of the building where sectionals was hosted.

"Are you okay, Jeff?" Nick asked. "You just stormed out, and you were just kinda... sitting there."

Jeff forced a smile and accepted Nick's hand, allowing Nick to pull him to his feet. "Course I'm okay." He said. "Let's go."

But he wasn't okay. Sometimes he wished he wasn't so damn perceptive.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

"Hey, kiddo!" Burt said, quickly pausing the TV and standing up as Kurt entered the house. "Finn got back just a few minutes ago. How was sectionals?"

"It was... it was great." Kurt said, smiling. He saw no point in bringing up his encounter with the New Directions. "Everyone sounded realy good. The New Directions and The Warblers tied for first place."

"Really?" Burt said, raising his eyebrows. "Finn didn't mention that when we talked. He just said that they didn't lose. He looked a bit upset."

"Yeah, he is. Drama with Rachel or something." Kurt said, not able to refrain from rolling his eyes a bit. "I think I'm gonna go to bed."

"Do you want something to eat before you go?" Burt asked. "Carole made some delicious lasanga, and there's some in the fridge if you want any."

"No thanks, dad, I'm not hungry. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, son."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Nick was completly silent. He didn't know what to say. He was in complete shock.

"Wha... b-but..." He stuttered, "oh, Jeff, how did you figure it out?"

Jeff sighed and ran a hand through his hair, looking troubled. "I pieced things together myself. I have always been remarkably perceptive. The question is," Jeff said, looking back up at Nick, "How did _you_ find out? And when?"

Nick squirmed a bit, looking up at Jeff guiltily. "Remember the day that Puckerman boy came to visit Kurt? Well, he mentioned something about a 'Karofsky' harassing Kurt, so I... I may have googled the name, and..."

"Oh, Nick." Jeff sighed, pulling Nick close to his chest and stroking his hair. "And you've had to keep that to yourself this entire time?"

Nick nodded miserably.

"Nicky, I'm so sorry. I should have noticed sooner." They were both silent for a moment. "...Do you think that we should tell Blaine?"

"What? No!" Nick pulled back, looking at Jeff in shock. "Jeff, we can't tell anyone that we know about Kurt, especially Blaine."

Jeff blinked in surprise. "But why not? It might make Kurt feel better, since he wouldn't have to hide it from us."

"Yeah, but the reason he _is_ hididng it from us might be because he just doesn't want us to know." Nick took both of Jeff's hands in his. "Kurt probably just wants to move on and forget about that part of his life, and he can't do that if he finds out that his friends have been snooping in his buisness without his consent. He's already had that happen to him before."

Jeff went silent at this, looking down at his lap.

"So... no telling Blaine, okay?" Nick said finally, squeezing Jeff's hands.

Jeff looked back up at him, a small smile on his face. "Okay, Nick." He said, squeezing his hand back. "Whatever you want."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

 **Things are picking up! I feel like Jeff isn't as good at keeping things to himself as Nick is, so... we'll see what happens! I honestly don't know, haha.**

 **See you guys later! Bye!**


	17. Chapter seventeen - Simon

Kurt was woken up at 7:45 the next morning by his dad flicking the lights on in his room. "Come on, kiddo, time to wake up." Kurt felt strangely groggy, and he scowled and squinted his eyes at the bright light that was shining in his eyes.

"Why do I have to get up?" Kurt said grumpily, rubbing his eyes. "I don't have to go back to Dalton until, like, 5."

"It's because you have therapy today. Hey, now, none of that." Burt said, when Kurt groaned and slammed his head into his pillow. "I know you may not love 'em now, but these therapy sessions are gonna be really good for you in the long run."

 _Yeah, if I ever want to make a career in bullshit._ Kurt rolled his eyes and sat up, running a hand through his messy hair. "Fine." He said, standing up and snatching a towel off of his desk chair. "Let me shower, then we can go."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Kurt sat in the passenger seat of his dad's car, moodily kicking the side of the wall. Stupid Amelia. Stupid therapy. Stupid Rachel. Stupid Karofsky. Stupid -

His phone buzzed in his pocket. He frowned and pulled it out of his pocket curiously.

 _Morning! I miss you!_

 _\- Blaine_

Kurt covered his mouth to hide his smile as he replied, his bad mood immidiatly dissapating.

 _Miss you too, Blaine. Are you still celebrating your victory? -Kurt_

 _Wes is already making us debate regionals songs... so no. -Blaine_

 _Really? It would usually take weeks for the ND to get serious enough to even consider regionals. -Kurt_

 _Doesn't sound very organized. -Blaine_

 _It wasn't. -Kurt_

 _Is that why you quit? -Blaine_

Kurt hesitated.

 _No. I quit for... personal reasons. It's a long story. -Kurt._

 _Gotcha. Sorry, I was just curious. I won't bother you about it anymore._

Godammit, Blaine was so _nice._ There was rarely a moment around Blaine now when he didn't feel the odd butterflies in his stomach.

 _It's cool. -Kurt_

"Who're you texting, kiddo?" Burt asked, reaching over and ruffling Kurt's hair.

Kurt flattened it out with a huff, making Burt chuckle. "Just my roomate." He said shortly, stowing his phone back in his pocket.

"Alright, we're here." Kurt stared sullenly with his head in his hands as they pulled up to the farmiliar building, where Amelia was no doubt waiting in her office for him, shuffeling her stupid papers and writing on her stupid clipboard. He hated her so much.

He knew that his hatred of Amelia was probably irrational. But he felt like blaming somebody, and since he could barely even think about Karofsky anymore, it felt much easier to blame Amelia.

Except when his father signed him in and led him to Amelia's office, she wasn't there. In her place was a man who was sitting at Amelia's desk, sorting through documents. He looked up when he heard Kurt enter and smiled.

"Hello. You must be Kurt, right?" He said, setting the documents down on his desk and turning his chair to face Kurt.

"Uh, y-yeah." Kurt said, a bit confused. "S-sorry, but where's Amelia? I was supposed to meet her here for my therapy..."

"Actually, Amelia isn't going to be your therapist anymore." The man said.

Kurt blinked. "What? Why?"

"Why don't you have a seat?" He said, not unkindly, gesturing to the seat across from his desk.

Kurt sat down and regarded the man sitting across from him warily. He was young, he couldn't he older than twenty six or seven, and there was nothing parricularly remarkable about him. He had short, slightly toustled blonde hair and black glasses framing kind, moon gray eyes. He was the type of person who just looked _likeable_ , an aura that Amelia never had. On the slightly messy desk was a small bronze nameplate that read _Simon_ in small letters.

"So, Amelia felt that she really wasn't able to... bond with you." The man, Simon, said. "She felt that you held some hostility towards her, so we thought it would be better if you could talk to someone that you could... relate to a bit more."

Kurt blinked. Amelia said that about him? Did that mean he didn't have to see her anymore? What if Simon was even worse than her? And what did he mean 'relate to'? "So... you're gonna be my therapist now?" He asked slowly.

Simon smiled again, a friendly smile. "Unless you have any objections." He said.

Kurt really didn't know what to make of this man. He seemed friendly enough... "I guess... I'd rather have you than Amelia." He muttered finally.

"Great I'd really like to get to know you better, Kurt."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "'Get to know me'?" He said, completly unable to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. "You mean they haven't already told you everything there is to know about me and my poor, messed up life?"

"I don't know what "they" you're refering to, Kurt, but I haven't been told anything about your life, except for what was absolutely neccesary."

Kurt guessed that the 'what was absolutely neccesary' probably translated to 'I know that you were raped'. He looked to the side and flushed slightly. "Well, there's really not that much else to know about me." He muttered.

"Why do you say that?" Simon asked.

Kurt looked back at Simon and raised his eyebrows. This man was a therapist; someone trained to get inside his head and try to fix things that didn't need fixing. Therapists didn't care about their patients, they only helped because they were getting payed to do it. He shouldn't give an answer, he should just ignore him and let him ramble until the session was over, just like he did with Amelia.

But there was something in Simon's careful gaze that Kurt couldn't quite describe, something that made Kurt want to trust him.

"... I don't really know why." He said finally, avoiding Simon's eye. "I guess... ever since... you know, _it_ happened, I feel like it's all everyone ever sees. Before to my friends, I was _somebody._ I was Kurt Hummel, I was Mercedes' best friend, I was the only male soprano. But now, when my old friends, or even my family looks at me, all they can see is the kid who got raped. And it's starting to feel like... like that's all that I'm am."

There was silence on Simon's end, which encouraged Kurt continue.

"Ever since what happened, people treat me like... like I'm about to fall apart, you know? Like if they say the wrong thing or somehow make me upset, I'll fall to pieces, and all I want is for them to treat me normally. I just want to put this whole thing behind me and just forget about it, and I can't do that when everywhere people think that I'm going to collapse."

"What about your friends at your new school, Dalton academy?" Simon asked gently. "How do they act around you?"

Kurt flushed slightly. "I didn't tell them." He said. "I just want to put this whole thing behind me, and why should I bog them down with stuff that doesn't even matter anymore?"

Kurt finally looked back up at Simon. Simon was silent for a few moments, and he appeared to be listening intently to everything Kurt had said. "Why do you say that it doesn't matter anymore, Kurt?"

"Well... it-it just doesn't!" Kurt said defensively. "It's-it's all in the past now, so just moving on and forgetting about it is the best thing to do, isn't it? I'm fine now, so..."

"Kurt, do you really think that being raped is something that you can just forget about?" Simon said softly. "Something that you can just brush aside and go about your life, pretending it never happened?"

Kurt was silent at that.

"Have you ever thought about the fact that you might not actually be fine, Kurt?" Simon continued gently. "There's absolutely nothing that has changed about your life?"

Kurt thought about his long sleeves and the hickeys on his neck, and his jumpy behavior around his family and friends at Dalton, his distance from the New Directions. He thought about the fact that he hadn't even spoken to anyone for days after they had found out. He thought about the fact that he didn't even sing anymore.

He thought about the fact that none of his old shirts seemed to fit him anymore because of how thin he'd gotten.

He just crossed his arms and looked to the side of the room, staying silent. "I don't know what you're talking about." He said defensively.

"Kurt, I wasn't trying to call you out." Simon said. "I just wanted to know how you're feeling right now."

"You're a therapist, isn't it your job to know what I'm feeling?" Kurt muttered.

"No." Simon said. "My job is to help you, Kurt. However you need it."

Kurt looked up at that. There was something so geniune in Simon's expression that it made him feel a bit caught off guard. Simon had made him think more in half an hour minutes than Amelia had in weeks of hour long sessions. Maybe there was something to this whole therapy thing after all.

"...So, is there anything else that we have to talk to, or can we just skip straight to the part where you lecture me about expressing my feelings or my eating habits?" Kurt said, hoping he sounded indifferent instead of nervous.

Simon smiled. "I'm not here to lecture you, Kurt. But, as you guessed, I do want to talk about how you've been eating. Hey, don't look at me that," Simon said when Kurt scoffed and rolled his eyes. "You've really been worrying your dad, you know?"

"How do you know that?" Kurt said skeptically.

"Your dad and I spoke a bit yesterday." Simon said. "He's really worried about you, Kurt."

Kurt looked at his lap. "I don't want him to worry." Kurt said softly. "He doesn't need to be worried, I'm - "

 _I'm fine._

But was he fine?

"I'll try to do better." Kurt muttered.

Simon smiled. "Good. All I can ask is that you try." Simon checked his watch. "Wow, is your session really up already?" Time flies. I guess you'd better get going."

"Oh. Okay." Kurt felt strange. He hadn't planned to pour out his emotions today, but now that he had done it, he fely oddly light. It wasn't a bad thing.

Before leaving the room, he turned around to face Simon. "What did you mean earlier?"

Simon looked confused. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"When you said that you could 'relate' to me a bit more." Kurt explained

Simon smiled. "I've been with my boyfriend since my junior year of highschool." Simon said. "I've had my fair share of homophobia and... the like."

"Oh." So Simon was gay. That's what they meant when they said he could relate to Kurt. "Well, I hope things work out with him."

"Thanks." Simon looked geniunely touched. "Will I be seeing you next week?"

Kurt thought for a moment. "... I hope so." He said, allowing himself to smile. "And... thanks."

"Any time, Kurt." Simon replied. "Any time."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Wes squinted in confusion at his laptop screen. Kurt didn't even have a facebook? What kind of kid in highschool didn't have a facebook?

Granted, he probably shouldn't be looking for Kurt's facebook in the first place, but he was curious. He had recently learned that Kurt had been in the New Directions. Was he any good? If he was, maybe Wes would be able to persuade him to join again...

But it was useless, because Kurt didn't even seem to have a facebook, for whatever reason. Well, if he didn't have one, his friends were bound to. He typed in the name of one of the members of ND (which he may or may not have gotten from reading show choir blogs): Rachel Berry.

Sure enough, her profile popped up instantly. The first thing underneath it was a picture of the entire group of the New Directions standing next to the trophy from last night.

But Kurt wouldn't be here. Wes needed to go back to when Kurt was still at McKinley.

Wes scrolled for a while and saw a lot of videos of various members of the new Directions singing solos, but his jaw fell open when he saw a video from almost a year back.

"No freaking way."

He clicked on the video titled "Bad Romance."

 _"Ra Ra ah-ah-ah!_

 _Ro ma, ro-ma-ma!_

 _Gaga oh-la-la!_

 _Want your bad romance!"_

It was Kurt.

"Holy hell." Wes didn't think he'd ever seen heels that tall on anyone. But the weirdest thing wasn't the way he was dressed, it was his confidence. At Dalton, Kurt always walked with his shoulders hunched and his head down, as if he was trying not to be seen. But in this video, he looked like he _wanted_ to be seen, and he had a look of happiness that Wes had never seen before. The other people in the video were good, but they really didn't hold a candle to Kurt. He stole the show.

Wes was going to have to figure out how to get him into the Warblers.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

 **Whaaat? The Simon from my story is uncannily similar to Simon Spier from Simon vs. The Homosapien Agenda? That's preposterous! This is a completely origional character! I'm insulted!**

 **Okay. I may have borrowed him a little bit. I'm sorry. I'm just in a really big Spierfield phase right now, and I'm actual trash, so. Yeah.**

 **Anyway, I am BACK! Did you miss me? I had a birthday over my mini-hiatus, so that's cool. Hope you all are doing well!**

 **See you next week!**


	18. Chapter eighteen - I'll stand by you

Burt pulled up to Dalton Academy, Kurt in the passenger seat. "You ready, kiddo?" Burt said, glancing over at Kurt.

Kurt smiled at his dad. "Yeah. Thanks dad." He opened the car door and carefully stepped out of the car. He slammed the door shut and waved at his dad as he drove off.

The hallway was mostly deserted, so Kurt was about to head up to his dorm when he heard someone call his name.

"Kurt!"

He turned around. "Hey... Blaine?"

Blaine was rushing towards him, a large... _something_ clutched under his arm. "Kurt!" He stopped in front of Kurt, panting. "Kurt, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure. What is it?" Kurt said curiously.

Blaine carefully placed the large object into Kurt's hand, and Kurt realized that it was a large golden birdcage with a canary inside. The canary whistled joyfully at Kurt. "This is Pavarotti. He belongs to the Warblers, but the person who has him right now left him in the hallway. I need to talk to Wes right now, so can you just bring him to the choir room, and I'll be there in a second? You know where it is, right?"

"Y-yeah..." Kurt said. "Yeah, I can do it."

"Thanks, Kurt. You're a lifesaver." Blaine said, hastily patting Kurt on the shoulder before rushing away.

Kurt looked at Pavarotti. Pavarotti tilted his small head and whistled again. Kurt smiled. "You have a beautiful voice." Kurt said softly as he set off towards the choir room. "I didn't know the Warblers owned a bird."

He pushed open the door to the choir room. It was definitely a lot nicer than the one at McKinley, with large couches and round tables and a grand piano towards the wall.

Kurt places Pavoratti carefully on one of the tables and slowly aporoached the piano. It was gorgeous, glossy and shiny. His mother loved the piano. Kurt slowly ran one his hands across the piano, his finger finding middle C. He pressed the key, and the sound echoed across the empty choir room. Pavoratti copied the note from across the room.

And suddenly he was sitting at the piano bench, his fingers poised to play. He hadn't played or sang in so long, it was too painful. But no one was here, no one was listening...

He would play one song. Just one song to get the urge to sing out of his system, and then he'd never sing again. His fingers hesitantly played the first chord to the first song that he could think of. He had played it for Finn, back when Finn was dating Quinn and he was friends with Mercedes and everything wasn't so fucked up.

 _Oh, why you look so sad?_

 _Tears are in your eyes, come on and come to me now_

Don't be ashamed to cry

Let me see you through

'Cause I've seen the dark side too

When the night falls on you

You don't know what to do

Nothing you confess

Could make me love you less

I'll stand by you

I'll stand by you

Won't let nobody hurt you

I'll stand by you

Kurt heard Pavarotti join in the song cheerfully behind him and laughed. What a silly bird.

So, if you're mad, get mad!

Don't hold it all inside

Come on and talk to me now

Hey, what you got to hide?

I get angry too

But I'm a lot like you

When you're standing at the crossroads

Don't know which path to choose

Let me come along

'Cause even if you're wrong

I'll stand by you

I'll stand by you

Won't let nobody hurt you

I'll stand by you

Take me in into your darkest hour

And I'll never desert you

I'll stand by you

And when, when the night falls on you baby

You're feeling all alone

You won't be on your own

Kurt was so wrapped up in his singing that he didn't noticd that Wes and Nick had both silently entered the room and were listening to him sing. Nick was staring at him with opened mouthed shock, and Wes was smiling. The Warblers were going to have an amazing countertenor soon enough.

I'll stand by you

I'll stand by you

Won't let nobody hurt you

I'll stand by you

Take me in into your darkest hour

And I'll never desert you

I'll stand by you

I'll stand by you

Won't let nobody hurt you

I'll stand by you

And I'll never desert you

I'll stand by you

I'll stand by you

Won't let nobody hurt you

I'll stand by you

Kurt finished the song, and the room was silent for a moment. Even Pavoratti had gone quiet. Nick was still in shock.

Finally, Wes broke the silence. "Kurt, that was amazing."

Kurt shot out of his chair, turning around to see Wes and Nick watching him. "Oh, I, u-um..." He stammered, feeling embarrased, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to use your piano, I just - "

"Kurt, that was beautiful." Wes interrupted, making Kurt's flush deepen. "You have an amazing voice. Why haven't you auditioned for The Warblers yet? You were in the New Directions, right?"

"Wes." Nick cut in sharply, "Kurt doesn't want - "

"Let him speak for himself, Nick." Wes interrupted, waving his hand dismissively at Nick. He turned to address Kurt again. "Kurt, your voice is definitely good enough to be in The Warblers, and we have room for you. Why don't you audition? We haven't had a countertenor in years."

"I-I..." Kurt stammered. This wasn't good. How would he get out of this? Did he even want to get out of it? The singing was fun, but the thought of being in glee club again... "Wes, I really don't know..."

Nick cut in again. "Wes, maybe you shouldn't - "

"Come on, Kurt." Wes said. "You don't have to sing solos if you don't want to, and the Warblers are desperate for a countertenor. They'll love you, I know they will. Will you please think about auditioning?"

Kurt still wasn't sure if this was a good idea, but he honestly didn't think he could say no to Wes' earnest expression. "Y-yes." He said. His voice felt strangely dry, and he cleared his throat. "Yes. I'll audition."

"Great!" Wes said cheerfully, reaching for his notebook and ignoring Nick's murderous glare in his direction. He opened it up and flipped through it. "I think I can schedual you in for Thursday. Is that good?"

"Y-yeah, I guess that's fine."

"Then it's settled. Kurt Hummel is auditioning for the Warblers!"

GLEEGLEEGLEE

"What the _hell,_ Wes?!" Nick said furiously after Kurt had left the room. Wes was still flipping through his notebook, a proud smile on his face. Nick wanted to smack him. "Why would you make Kurt audition for The Warblers?"

"I didn't _make_ him," Wes said, looking incredibly pleased with himself. "He could have said no if he wanted to." He put the notebook down and exited the choir room, walking briskly down the hall. Nick jogged to catch up with him.

"You know full well that he wouldn't." Nick said harshly. "Kurt isn't good at saying no to people."

"Nick, you're making way to big a deal out of this!" Wes said. "What's the problem with me helping Kurt get an audition?"

"The _problem,"_ Nick said, "Is that you're pressuring Kurt into doing something that he doesn't want to do! You can't just poke him and prod him in any direction you want, he's already been down that road too many times!"

Wes froze and stopped walking at that. He turned to face Nick. "What's that supposed to mean?" He said slowly.

Nick froze too. Did he really just say that? He always had a hard time holding his tounge whenever he was angry. "Nothing, it doesn't mean anything." Nick said hurriedly. "The point is, you shouldn't have done it." He turned around and quickly started to walk away."

"Nick, wait." Wes quickly grabbed Nick's arm, forcing him around. "Do you know something about Kurt that I don't?"

"I don't know anything." Nick muttered, pulling his arm out of Wes' grasp. "I have to go."

"Wait, Nick - "

But Nick was already gone.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Kurt immidietly collapsed on his bed as soon as he entered his dorm room. Blaine had sent him a message a few minutes prior saying that he wouldn't be back until late, so he decided that he would take a shower.

As he let the hot water run down his back, he thought about his audition. He was having mixed emotions about it. He hadn't sang in so long, just because it hadn't felt like him anymore, and he didn't know if he could just jump back in and act like nothing had changed.

But at that piano earlier, he had felt more like himself than he had in over a month. His brain was reminding him that _of course you're supposed to be singing, why the hell haven't you been doing it this whole time?_

Well, it didn't matter how he felt about the audition, he thought as he stepped out if the bathroom to look around for a shirt, because there was no way he was going to refuse Wes. He couldn't do that to his friend.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

"Blaine!" David yelled impatiently, turning down the hallway to Blaine's dorm, Blaine's guitar clutched tightly in his fist. "Blaine, you left your guitar in Wes' room again, and he's livid. How many times have we told you not to forget it? I'm putting it in your room, okay?"

David rolled his eyes and, without waiting for a response, Wes opened the door to Blaine's room.

And stopped dead.

Kurt was standing in the middle of the room without a shirt on. That itself wasn't what made David gasp in horror. Kurt's entire chest looked like something that came out of his nightmares. David saw in the moment that he saw Kurt that he was extremely thin; David was sure that he could count Kurt's ribs, but that wasn't the worst part. His entire torso was covered in mottled purple and red bruises, scabs, and... bite marks? _What the hell?!_

But a moment was all David got to see him, because the moment Kurt saw David enter the room his eyes went wide and he quickly snatched a tshirt off of his nightstand and covered his chest with it.

"Jesus, Kurt, what the hell happened to you?" David said in alarm.

"David! Get out of here!" Kurt said angrily, his face flushing red.

"Are those..." David focused on a red mark on Kurt's neck, and his eyes got wider. "...Kurt, is that a bite mark?"

"GET THE HELL OUT!" Kurt repeated loudly, now looking close to tears. "David, please, GO!"

Blaine's guitar still clutched in his hand, David bolted out of the dorm room, not stopping until he had reached the rec room on the floor below. He ran inside and collapsed on the couch, breathing heavily.

What the hell was that about? Was it because of his dad, as he had previously suspected? It did make sense...

 _But no, it didn't._ Nick _did_ know what was wrong with Kurt, didn't he? That's why he had been so reluctant to say that Kurt's dad could be hurting him, it was because Nick _knew_ the truth. Nick knew the truth about the bite mark on Kurt's shoulder.

David thought back to Wes earlier that day, how Wes said that Nick was acting weird about getting Kurt an audition. Wes had told David what Nick has said: _You can't just poke him and prod him in any direction you want, he's already been down that road too many times!_

This was something much worse than Wes had origionally thought. He was going to have to talk to someone about this.

Maybe not Nick, though.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	19. Chapter nineteen

It was nearly ten thirty at night when Blaine finally got back from visiting his mother. He had promised his mother that he would visit her after sectionals, since she hadn't been able to make it that year, and he had ended up staying a lot later than he meant to. He quietly opened the door to his dorm room, expecting Kurt to already be asleep. He was surprised to see that the light in the room was on. Kurt was laying on his bed, his eyes closed and his slightly damp hair clamped tightly in his fists. He looked stressed out.

"Kurt?" Blaine said curiously.

Kurt opened his eyes and peered up at Blaine blearily, giving him a half smile. "Hey."

"Are... you okay?" Blaine said hesitantly.

Kurt sat up with a sigh. His hair was sticking up in all directions, and he absently ran his hand through it to flatten it. "I'm fine." He said, smiling a little bit. "Just something weird happened earlier. Oh, by the way, David has your guitar. You left it with Wes again.

Blaine smacked his forehead. "Ah, I knew I was forgetting something." He said.

Kurt chuckled softly. "Hopefully he doesn't behead you." Kurt said, stifling a yawn behind his hand.

Blaine frowned. "Were you waiting for me?" He said.

Kurt blushed a little bit. "Well, I probably would have woken up when you came back anyway, so..."

"Well, whatever. I'm gonna sleep now, I'm tired. Goodnight, Kurt." Blaine said, yawning and stretching his arms above his head.

"Goodnight, Blaine."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

 _"We know."_

 _Kurt turned around, his eyebrows furrowing when he saw Blaine, Nick, Jeff, Wes, and David all standing behind him with harsh expressions on their faces._

 _"You... you know what, exactly?" Kurt said, a bit nervously._

 _"We know what you let him do to you." Blaine said harshly, making Kurt's eyes widen. "David told us what he saw. You think I'll want to be your friend now that I know you're tainted and worthless?"_

 _"And what about us, huh?" Nick said angrily. "When were you planning on telling us? I thought we were friends, and friends aren't supposed to keep secrets from eachother."_

 _"I-I..." Kurt stuttered, at a complete loss for words. "... Guys, I'm so sorry - "_

 _"You think sorry is going to be good enough?" Blaine said with a cruel laugh. "No, Kurt, nothing you say is going to be good enough, because you are_ broken, _Kurt. You are_ broken."

 _Kurt looked at the floor, his eyes welling up with tears. "I know." He whispered._

 _Blaine just scoffed, and they_ _all stormed away from him, not before Wes shoved him harshly to the floor. Kurt cried out in pain. "See you later, faggot." He whispered, giving Kurt a kick in the side before storming away._

 _Kurt layed on the floor, feeling miserable. Now his friends had finally seen what a freak he was, and they didn't want to talk to him._

 _Kurt felt a hand on his back, and for a fleeting moment Kurt wondered if Blaine had come back to help him. But the hand on his back was too big, too_ harsh _to be Blaine's It could only be..._

 _"What are you doing on the floor, fairy?" Karofsky whispered in his ear. Kurt gave an involuntary shudder at the feeling of Karofky's lips against his ear. He hated it, but he knew it was no use moving. Karodsky laughed. "What, not even going to try to get away this time, Hummel?" He said, and in one swift move Karofsky was on top of Kurt, straddling Kurt's lower back and pinning him to the floor. Kurt could feel the firm pressure of Karofsky's arousal against his back he and felt himself go dizzy. He felt like he was going to throw up. "I guess you really are just a slut."_

 _Kurt shook his head frantically. "No, please, I'm not..."_

 _"You're not what?" Karofsky said with a cruel laugh, and Kurt could hear Karofsky's fingers fumbling at his belt buckel. "You're not anything, Hummel, and you'd better not forget that. You are_ nothing."

"KURT!"

Kurt shot up with a gasp. Blaine was grasping his shoulders, and he had a worried expression on his face. It had all been a nightmare.

Kurt groaned. "Oh no, I didn't wake you up again, did I?" Kurt said worriedly, combing his hand through his hair.

"No, you didn't." Blaine reassured him hurriedly. "You just didn't wake up, and I didn't want you to be late for breakfast, so..."

"Oh." Kurt sighed in relief. "Well... I guess I'll go get ready, then..."

Kurt felt slightly awkward as he hurriedly grabbed his uniform from his drawers and raced to the bathroom to get dressed, but but couldn't help but be relieved Blaine didn't seem weirded out by his odd behavior.

He wondered how long that would last.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Blaine waited patiently for Kurt to finish getting dressed, twiddling his thumbs in his lap. "Alright, you ready?" Blaine said, extending his hand to Kurt. Kurt took it. "Okay, let's go."

Blaine's eyes lingered on Kurt a bit longer than they normally did, and Kurt coughed. Blaine seemed to realize what he was doing and flushed, looking at the ground as they walked to breakfast together.

GLEEGLEEEGLEE

"Morning, guys." Blaine said, sitting down at his usual seat. David saw Kurt and blushed, looking hurriedly at the table. Kurt sat next to Blaine, taking care not to look at David.

"Hey, Kurt." Wes said with a smile, seemingly not noticing Kurt or David's discomfort. "Have you been thinking about what song you're doing for your audition?"

Blaine gave Kurt a sharp look. "Audition?" He said quickly. "What audition?" Nick's expression had gone stony. Blaine glanced between Kurt and Wes, confused.

Kurt looked at Blaine. "I-I..." He didn't think about how he was going to explain the audition to the others, especially Blaine.

"Kurt's auditioning for the Warblers!" Wes said cheerfully, ignoring Nick's anger.

Blaine looked even more confused. "You are?" Blaine said, turning toward Kurt again. "But you said on Saturday that you didn't want to. Am I missing something, or...?"

Kurt felt a blush creep up his cheeks. "I... I guess I changed my mind." Kurt muttered, not meeting Blaine's eyes. "And besides, Wes asked me to, so..."

Blaine looked at Wes and raised his eyebrows. Wes shrugged oh-so-innocently back. Blaine didn't quite look like he was ready to let it go, but he simply gave his head a slight shake and smiled. "Whatever. It's fine. What's going on with you, David?"

For a second Nick looked like he was about to explode, but Jeff simply put his arm over Nick's shoulder and rubbed his arm, and Nick seemed to sag a little bit and he rested his head on Jeff's shoulder.

Kurt felt a horrible guilt spread through his chest that he couldn't really explain. He felt that somehow he was _betraying_ Blaine, even though he knew logically that made no sense. He told Blaine that he didn't want to audition, and here he was, doing it anyway. Why couldn't he stop _lying_ to Blaine? What could Blaine think of him?

He was a horrible friend.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

"Blaine." Nick whispered urgently in Blaine's ear as the group headed to their first class of the day. "I need to tell you something privately."

Blaine looked at Nick, puzzled. "Okay." He said. "I'll catch up with you later!" He called back to a confused looking Kurt as Nick grabbed his forearm and steered him to an abandoned classroom, shutting the door behind him.

"Okay, so what's this about?" Blaine asked, folding his arms and leaning against one of the desks.

Nick's expression was grim. "Okay, so, you know how Kurt is auditioning for The Warblers?"

"Yeah." Blaine had been confused by that, especially how vocal Kurt had been with him about not wanting to be in glee club anymore, but the expression on Kurt's face made Blaine swallow his questions and hastily change the subject. "What about it?"

"Well, he didn't want to audition."

Blaine blinked. "...What?"

"Yesterday, Wes and I were heading to the choir room, and Kurt was in there playing the piano and singing. He was really good."

"Kurt was... singing?"

"Yeah." Nick said. "Anyway, Wes heard it and he basically guilted Kurt into auditioning for The Warblers. I _saw_ Kurt's face and I could tell that he didn't want to. Wes could too, I _know_ he could, and he's making Kurt audition anyway."

"What?" Blaine said, getting angrier by the minute. "Why would Wes do that? He knew how hard it was for Kurt at his old school."

"Well, that's what I said." Nick said. "But Wes basically said that if Kurt didn't want to audition, he would have refused when he asked."

"That's ridiculous!" Blaine fumed furiously. "Kurt was bullied at his school, he's probably not used to standing up to anyone!"

"Yeah, I know, Blaine. Probably better than you." Nick said. "That's why I'm telling you this.

"Wait, how do you know better than me?"

"You're closer to Wes than I am," Nick continued, ignoring Blaine's question, "maybe you can talk some sense into him."

"I will." Blaine said reassuringly. "Don't worry, Nick."

"O-okay, good luck - " Nick said, but Blaine had already rushed off to talk to Wes.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

"...You saw _what?"_ Wes whispered disbelievingly to David in Mr. Moragne's class. Mr. Moragne had said that he didn't feel like teaching the class today, before putting on an educational document and falling asleep at his desk, leaving Wes and David free to talk.

"I don"t know!" David whispered back, looking stressed out. "His whole body was covered in, like, bruises and scratches, and bite marks - "

"Bite marks?" Wes repeated, looking startled. "You're sure about this?"

"Positive." David said. "What do you think it means? I mean, at first we thought it could have been his dad, but that doesn't make sense much sense anymore, does it? It could have something to do with the bullying at his old school, but that doesn't make much - "

Wes cut David off with a gasp, his hand suddenly flying to his mouth. David looked at Wes curiously. "What?" David said.

"Oh no." Wes banged his head against his desk with a groan. "Oh _no."_

" _What,_ Wes?" David said impatiently.

"Karofsky." Wes said, his voice muffled.

David blinked. "... What?"

"Dave Karofsky." Wes repeated, lifting his head from his desk. "I read about him online. He used to go to McKinley."

"So?" David said, raising his eyebrows. "What does that have to do with Kurt?"

"Don't you remember what Kurt said to Noah Puckerman?" Wes said?

David strained his memory, thinking back to when Puck had visited Kurt during his first day at Dalton. _"Just because they're gay doesn't mean they're crazy like Karofsky was!"_

"Yeah, I guess." David said. "What's your point?"

"David." Wes glanced around to make sure no one was listening before leaning in closer to David. "Karofsky's a _rapist_. He was arrested for sexual assault against a male minor about a month before Kurt tranfered to Dalton."

"Wait, _what?"_

"Oh god, it all makes sense now." Wes said, running a hand through his hair. "The way he's been acting, the marks on his body that you saw, and what Nick said to me yesterday - "

"You can't poke him and prod him in any direction you want, he'e been down that road too many times." David said, finishing Wes' thought. "Oh, Kurt..."

Suddenly the bell rang loudly, jolting Mr. Moragne out if his sleep. The rest of the class stood up and filed out of the classroom. Wes and David slowly stood up and followed, still stunned from their discovory. How did Nick find out? Did Jeff know? Did _Blaine_?

"Wes." Wes turned quickly. _Speaking of Blaine..._

"What's up?" Wes said.

Blaine's expression was grim. "We need to talk."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

 **I... don't really have anything to say about this chapter, haha. Hope you liked it! Now that everyone else knows ("Everyone else" being Niff, Wes, and David) Blaine will be finding out very soon ;)** **I actually have a plan for the next chapter! Yaay!**

 **Enjoy!**


	20. Chapter Twenty - Preparation

**Wow. There's been twenty of these already?** **This was NOT supposed to be that long, but I guess I got a little carried away with it. People seem to like it though, so... enjoy!**

GLEEGLEEGLEE

"What's up, Blaine?" Wes said as he and Blaine reached the choir room.

"Don't 'what's up, Blaine' me." Blaine said, an uncharacteristically ugly look on his face. "How could you pressure Kurt into the Warblers?"

"Oh, for gods sake, not this again." We said, sighing and covering his face with both hands. "I didn't pressure Kurt into joining just for the hell of it, Blaine!"

" _Really?"_ Blaine said skeptically. "Because it seems to me that you just wanted a countertenor in the Warblers, so you decided to take advantage of the fact that Kurt isn't good at saying no to people."

"Blaine, we've been friends since freshman year." Wes said. "Does that really sound like something that I would do?"

"I'm not so sure anymore, Wes." Blaine said coldly. "I don't know when you turned into a manipulative dick, but all I'm saying is that you need to back off of Kurt and - "

"Blaine." Wes interrupted. "Do you remember how even after you transfered here in your freshman year, it took you months to even open up to David and me?"

"I... huh?" Blaine said, momentarily forgetting his anger. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Do you remember," Wes continued, acting as if Blaine hadn't spoken, "How Jeff wouldn't talk to anyone but Nick for ages after he first transfered here?"

"Yeah, I guess." Blaine said. "What's your point?"

"My _point,"_ Wes said, putting extra emphasis on his words, "Is, what was the thing that happened to both lf you that helped you open up to all of us?"

Blaine was about to say that he had no clue what Wes was talking about, when suddenly he remembered a day from almost two years ago, back before he had really opened up to anyone...

 _Blaine rushed down the staircase of Dalton Academy, keeping his head down and his eyes trained at the ground so his dark curls fell into his hazel eyes, which were fraimed by thick black glasses. He had finished all of his classes for the day and was planning on retiring to his dorm for the night when he felt a tap on his shoulder._ _He turned around and found himself face to face with Wesley Montgomory._

 _Wes, along with another boy named David, had been assigned as his mentors when he had first transfered to Dalton. He was not particularly close to either of them, but for some reason both boys seemed determined to be his friend, even after they had found out that he was gay. It really just went to show how different things were at Dalton._

 _"Hey, Blaine." He said with a friendly smile. "Are you busy?"_

 _"Um, I guess not..." Blaine said. "Why?"_

 _"Well, how would you feel sitting in on one of our glee club rehearsals? We'd like an outsider's opinion, and you've never seen a performance before, so I thought you might like to."_

 _Blaine blinked in surprise. A glee club rehearsal? There had been a glee club at his old school, but it was wildly unpopular to be in the glee club, especially if you were a boy. Blaine loved to sing even then, but instead he had settled for joining boxing so as to not draw attention to himself, and work on his singing and guitar in the privacy of his own home. No one from Dalton was aware of the fact that he even_ could _sing._ _But from the few things he had heard about the Warblers, they didn't seem like an unpopular group. In fact, they seemed generally well liked and respected by the other boys. What harm could it do?_

 _"I guess so." Blaine said with a_ _small shrug, hoping he sounded_ _indifferent instead of nervous._

 _Wes beamed. "Great! The choir room is this way." Wes motioned for Blaine to follow him._

 _They reached the choir room and Wes opened the door. About a dozen boys were in the room, chatting animatedly with one another, and Blaine caught his breath slightly. He wasn't expecting there to be so many people._

 _David spotted him from across the room and smiled, jogging over. "Hey, Blaine. Glad you decided to come." He said._ _"We're about to start."_

 _"Wow, David." Wes said, feigning hurt. "No acknowlagement to your best friend in the world? Not even a hello? I'm wounded."_

 _"Your ego doesn't need to be inflated any more, Wesley." David said with a smile, giving Blaine a small wink. "Your head won't fit through the door."_

 _"Yeah, yeah." Wes said, waving his hand dismissively. "Anyway, we need to introduce Blaine to everyone."_

 _"Oh, right." David said. "Blaine, you already know us, obviously. Over there is Thad, and that's Trent, and that's Jon, and that's Flint, and... oh, this is Nick."_

 _A boy with slightly tousled black hair and a friendly smile had approached them. "Hey, David. Who's the new kid?"_

 _David smiled and threw a friendly arm around Blaine's shoulder. An action like this a month ago would have made him jump in surprise, but he only flinched a little bit. "This is Blaine. He's gonna watch us sing today."_

 _The boy held his hand out to Blaine, who took it only a little hesitantly. "Nick Duval." He said with a smile, shaking Blaine's hand. Blaine smiled back._

 _"Wes! David! Nick!" The one named Thad called impatiently. "Come on, rehearsal time_."

 _David withdrew his arm from Blaine and have him another playful wink as he stepped into formation with the rest of the Warblers. Blaine had to bite back a gasp when they all started harmonizing._

 _Then the boy he had met earlier, Nick, stepped in front of the other boys and began to sing, and Blaine couldn't help but smile back when he saw Wes send him a huge, goofy grin._

 _Blaine wasn't sure what song they were singing, but when they finished singing Blaine couldn't stop clapping, a huge smile across his face. "That was amazing." He said breathlessly as Wes bound up to him._

 _"Yeah?" Wes said. "You think we have a chance at sectionals?"_

 _"Definitely." Blaine hesitated only for a moment before adding, "So, how do you join the Warblers? Is there, like, an audition, or...?"_

 _Wes looked surprised. "You wanna audition for the Warblers?"_

 _Blaine felt his face grow hot and he looked at the floor, his dark locks tumbling into his eyes again. "I mean, if it's not too much trouble. I was just curious, is all..."_

 _"Hey." Wes said gently, and Blaine felt a warm hand on his shoulder. Blaine looked back up at Wes. "Of course you can audition. How about we talk about it with David over coffee?" He said hopefully._

 _Wes and David must have both invited him to coffee at least a dozen times, and each time Blaine had politely declined them, saying that he had homework to do. He had been too afraid to get close to Wes and David before, for fear that they would abandon him just like his old school. But something about the song, combined with Wes' expression..._

 _"Sure." Blaine said. "We can go to coffee._ "

 _"Really?" Wes said disbelievingly. "Did the great Blaine Anderson_ finally _agree to go to coffee with us?"_

 _Blaine gave Wes a half-sheepish smile and shrugged, looking at the floor again._

 _"So, should we get going?" Wes said._

 _Blaine looked up and smiled. "Yeah. Let's go."_

"The day that I came to see the Warblers." Blaine said softly. "It was the first time I agreed to go to coffee with you guys."

"Exactly." Wes said, nodding. "And you only got better from there. And Jeff hardly knew anyone until he joined the Warblers."

"What's your point, Wes?"

"My point is that you and Jeff were both shy, just like Kurt, and the Warblers helped you open up. The reason I wanted Kurt to join is because I know that it would be helpful for him. I _saw_ him while he was in the New Directions, and he was _alive,_ Blaine. He was happier. I would never make Kurt sing a solo if he didn't want to, but even if he's reluctant now, I know this will he helpful for him."

Blaine was silent for a long moment after that. "...I didn't think about it like that." He said finally. "I'm... I'm sorry. I still don't think you should have done it, but I'm sorry that I... jumped to conclusions."

"I realize that my reasoning wasn't clear at first when I asked Kurt to join." Wes said. "But can you please send the message to Nick before he castrates me?"

Blaine smiled. "Sure. Just... warn me before you do something like that again, yeah?"

"Sure." Wes agreed. "Now, we have more important matters to discuss."

"Yeah?" Blaine said, raising his eyebrows. "What's that?"

Wes was smirking. "Your crush on Kurt."

Blaine went dark red. "W-what?" He spluttered. "I do not - !"

"Don't even try to deny it, Anderson, pretty much everybody knows about it by now. Well," Wes said as an afterthought, "Everyone except Kurt himself."

Blaine went even redder and looked at the floor. "We are not talking about this." He said firmly. "And besides, I can't even think about stuff like that unless Kurt ever likes me back. I don't want to pressure him or anything."

Wes nodded. "You're a great friend, Blaine." Wes said. "Kurt's lucky to have you." Wes clapped him on the shoulder before exiting the classroom, leaving Blaine alone.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

"You're auditioning for the _Warblers?"_

Santana's perfect eyebrows were raised at Kurt through his laptop. Kurt bit his lip. "Yeah, I guess. I don't know. Do you think it's a bad idea?"

"Are you kidding me?" Santana said, a wicked grin going across her face. "It's an _awesome_ idea! Oh, Rachel is going to be _so_ pissed that you're competing with the New Directions."

Kurt smiled and rolled his eyes. "What's she done now?"

"What _hasn't_ she done?" Santana said exasperatedly. "She just keeps pining pathetically after Finn, even though she was the one cheating on him, and she's just all around a bitch."

"Sorry, San." Kurt said sympathetically. "How's Britt?"

Santana's cheeks went a bit pink. "She's, uh, she's good." Santana said, her voice catching oddly. "She said she misses you."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. Kurt was almost positive that something a bit... _more than platonic_ was going on with Santana and Brittany, but he knew Santana would get extremely defensive about it if he asked. "Well, tell her I say hi."

"Sure." Santana said. "Anyway, what else is going on at Dalton? You get a boyfriend yet? Is it the hobbit? I bet it's the hobbit. Why didn't you tell me, you traitor?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I'm not dating Blaine." He said. "We're just friends."

"I know, Kurt." Santana said, a small smile on her face. "I'm just teasing you. I hope you're having a ton of fun at your gay school."

"Is there even a point to correcting you anymore?"

"Nope."

Kurt sighed. "I gotta go now. Ton of homework to do."

"Okay. Text you tomorrow?"

"Sure." Kurt agreed. "Bye, Satan."

"Bye, Porcelain."

Kurt closed his computer and let out a long sigh, combing his hand through his hair. He couldn't help but still be conflicted about his audition, despite all of the support he had gotten from his friends. He got an odd jittery feeling in his stomach any time he thought of it, but...

it wasn't necessarily a _bad_ thing.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

It was Tuesday night, and Kurt was nowhere to be found.

It was almost 11 at night, and Kurt still hadn't joined Blaine in the dormitory. Blaine, getting slightly worried, rose out of bed and opened his door, peering around the deserted hallway. There was technically a curfew, but nobody ever patrolled the hallways after 10. Blaine started walking, glancing inside each room to see if Kurt was inside.

After a few minutes, he peered into a rarely used rec room and gave a small sigh of relief. He was sitting on the couch, at least twenty different pieces of sheet music were spread out in front of him on the coffee table. The dark shadows had come back beneath his eyes, and his hair was slightly ruffled, as if he had run his hands through it several times. He looked stressed.

"Kurt?" Blaine said curiously. Kurt's head shot up. "What are you doing?"

Kurt ran his hand through his hair again. "I don't know which song to choose." Kurt said in a panicked voice, gesturing wildly to the paper around him. "I'm gonna pick the wrong song, and I'm gonna fail my audition, and Wes will he dissapointed in me, and I'm never gonna get to sing again, and - "

"Whoa, whoa, woah, Kurt. Slow down." Blaine said hurriedly, placing a comforting hand on Kurt's shoulder. Kurt immediately stopped talking, his cheeks going even redder. "Look, you're overthinking this, okay? Whatever you choose, it's going to be great!"

"But it has to be _perfect."_ He said, picking up a piece of sheet music and studying it critically. "It has to be perfect, or Wes won't want me in The Warblers."

"Kurt, Wes is gonna want you no matter what." Blaine said reassuringly. "He heard you sing, Kurt. You're amazing. You have to sing whatever's in your heart."

Kurt paused at that. "What's... in my heart?" He repeated, his hand moving up to touch his own chest.

"Yeah." Blaine said, gently taking the sheet music out of Kurt's hands and laying it on the table. "Don't worry about all of this stuff, okay? Just sing what you _want_ to sing."

"O...okay." Kurt said, slowly reaching across the table and scooping all of the paper into a neat stack. "I guess that I can... worry about all this stuff tomorrow."

"Good." Blaine said, taking his hand off of Kurt's shoulder and lacing his fingers through Kurt's. Kurt flushed again. "Now, let's go to bed, yeah? We have class tomorrow."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

 **Oof. I couldn't think of a good way to end this, so I just... ended it.**

 **Am I the only one who really likes the idea of a lil freshman Blaine with curly hair and glasses? Wouldn't he be adorable? (Okay, I just wish Blaine looked more like irl Darren Criss. Don't judge me.)**

 **Hope you e** **njoyed the chapter!**


	21. Chapter Twenty-one - Audition

"I'm nervous." Kurt said softly as he and Blaine made their was through the breakfast line. Kurt had his finger's laced through Blaine's, and Blaine could feel Kurt's hands shaking. "I haven't sung in front of people since regionals last year. What if I mess up?"

"You won't mess up." Blaine said reassuringly, squeezing Kurt's hand tightly. "You practiced your song, right?" Kurt nodded. "Well, then, instead of focusing on everyone that you're singing in front of, focus on how the song makes you _feel._ It'll make it easier."

Kurt went slightly pink, looking down at the floor. It took him a while to find the perfect song to sing for his audition. His first thought was to do _Defying Gravity_ , but he thought that be a bit too out there, and besides, there were too many old and painful memoried tied up with that song. Santana has reccomended that he do something fun and upbeat, but that didn't feel quite right either. He wasn't quite sure _why_ he had chosen the song he eventually settled on, but he knew that his made him _feel_ something, which was what Blaine told him to do, right?

"Hey." He heard Blaine's voice and looked back up at him. "You're going to do _great."_ He said, squeezing Kurt's hand again, causing Kurt to smile a little bit. "They're gonna love you."

Kurt could only bring himself to nod as they went over to their table, sitting in their usual spots. David was still avoiding Kurt's eye.

"Hey, Kurt." There was something a bit softer than usual in Wes' expression as he greeted Kurt. "Think you're ready for your audition?"

Kurt swallowed. "I-I think so." He said, trying his best to sound confident. It must not have worked, because he got concerned expression from both Nick and Jeff, and Blaine gripped his hand even tighter under the table.

"Well, I know that they're gonna love you." Wes said, giving Kurt a bright smile. "The Warblers have been wanting a countertenor for years now. You could sing _"T_ _winkle Twinkle_ _Li_ _ttle Star"_ and they'd think you were brilliant."

He could tell that Wes was trying to reassure him, so he forced a smile and quickly looked back at the table. "Thanks, Wes."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Kurt was standing outside the Warbler rehersal, practically buzzing with nervousness. His audition was in less than five minutes. Five minutes until he sang in in front of over a dozen people, something that he hadn't done in months.

"You ready, Kurt?" Wes said, giving Kurt a clap on the shoulder.

Kurt jumped slightly, looking up at Wes. "Oh. Y-yeah." Kurt said, giving a small shrug. "I'm ready."

Wes smiled reassuringly. "All right." He said, giving Kurt's shoulder a little shake before dropping his hand and opening the door. Most of the warblers didn't notice Wes open the door, so he entered the room and quietly slipped into a chair at the front of the room, where David and another boy were already sitting. Wes gestured Kurt follow him, so Kurt walked across the room and stood awkwardly next to the table. Blaine spotted him from across the room and waved. Wes cleared his throat, picked up a small gavel, and rapped it importantly against the table. All of the warblers immediately fell silent and looked to the front of the room.

"Alright, Warblers." Wes said seriously. "Before we start rehearsing, we have a pressing matter at hand."

Kurt blinked. Wes was such a goofball most of the time they hung out, and it was weird hearing him speak so professionally. Kurt looked to Blaine and raised his eyebrows, and Blaine rolled his eyes in response.

"This is Kurt Hummel," Wes continued, gesturing over to Kurt, who flushed as every pair of eyes in the room turned to him. "He's going to be auditioning for the warblers. He's a countertenor." Several eyes across the room lit up, and there was whispering across the room. Wes wasn't lying; the warblers really _were_ excited about the prospect of a countertenor joining them. "I expect you all to be quiet and listen, and when he's done singing you are all going to vote on whether you want him to join or not. Kurt, are you ready?"

Kurt gulped and nodded, feeling the knot of nerves in his chest loosen slightly when Blaine sent him a big, reassuring smile from across the room.

"Alright. You may start now, Kurt."

Wes pressed play on the cd player with the song Kurt had prepared, and Kurt found Blaine's gaze in the crowd as he started the song.

Take me backwards,

turn me around

Cannot find my balance on the ground,

This world's too heavy

For a feather falling quickly.

And I wrote you a story,

But I'm afraid of how it ends,

And all my friends are doing well,

And I'm still on the mend.

I'm going to lay back down,

Hope the wind takes me around.

I gotta find some courage in this town,

'Cause nobody's going to save

Somebody who won't change,

I try to be brave.

I'm going to lay back down,

Hope the wind takes me around.

I gotta find some courage in this town,

And everybody's afraid

'Cause chances come from change

And everybody's afraid

'Cause chances come from breaking

The chances are you're breaking open

Kurt looked away from Blaine, facing the rest of the room as he sang the next part. He felt his nerves slowly dissapate as he sang.

And nothing's coming easy, and all at once,

I feel a little queasy.

Oh, but if your love's my remedy,

Won't you please come and be with me?

It's not like there's much better,

Nobody's grass is as green as mine.

I can't say that I'm satisfied

Three thousand miles from your kiss goodbye.

Everybody in the room was completely transfixed, staring at Kurt with rapt attention. Kurt was now looking into the distance, his posture theatrical and downcast. It was all part of the show, this was what he _knew_ how to do.

I'm going to lay back down,

Hope the wind takes me around.

I gotta find some courage in this town,

And everybody's afraid

'Cause chances come from change

And everybody's afraid

'Cause chances come from breaking

The chances are you're breaking open

I'm going to lay back down,

Hope the wind takes me around.

I gotta find some courage in this town,

'Cause nobody's going to save

Somebody who won't change

It's time to be brave...

The song ended, and only then did Kurt snap out of the trance he had gone into. The whole room was completely silent, everybody staring at him in awe. They were silent for so long that for a moment Kurt was afraid that they hated it, when the entire room burst into wild applause. Nick whooped, Jeff called, "Go, Kurt!" And Blaine had a big, proud smile on his face that made Kurt's insides do an odd sort of backflip in his stomach. He had done it.

"Alright, order!" Wes called, rapping the gavel against the table, but even he couldn't keep the grin off of his face as the rest of the Warblers slowly quieted. "That was... quite the performance, Kurt. I think we're all ready to vote, are we not, Warblers?" There were nods of confirmation around the room. "Excellent. All those in favor of Kurt Hummel joining the Warblers?"

There was a slight pause, then every single hand in the room went up. Kurt stared in shock.

Wes leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smile on his face. "Wonderful. Welcome to the Warblers, Kurt."

The Warblers all started applauding again, and Blaine got up out of his seat, striding up to Kurt. Kurt's breathing hitched in surprise when Blaine threw his arms around him in a hug.

Usually no one ever hugged him, save for his family, Puck, and occasionally Brittany. But Blaine hugging him felt... _nice._ Like it was _right_ somehow. Kurt slowly wrapped his arms around Blaine in return, and Blaine rested his his head on Kurt's shoulder.

"Wait a minute, we're not done yet." Wes said loudly. "Please _sit down,_ Warbler Blaine."

Blaine coughed awkwardly and slowly took him arms off of Kurt, giving him a small smile before sitting back down.

"Alright, now that we're all back in our seats," Wes said, shooting a pointed look at Blaine. Blaine blushed. "David, could you get Pavarotti, please?"

"I... huh?" Kurt watched in confusion as David came up to him holding the large birdcage where Pavarotti was perched.

"It's a Warbler tradition that the newest member of the Warblers is presented with Pavarotti. He's kind of like... our mascot." David explained, handing Kurt the cage carefully. "You get to take care of him for a while. Well, at least until someone new joins the Warblers."

"Oh." Kurt said, feeling pleasantly surprised as he held up the cage at eye level to inspect Pavarotti more carefully. The bird tilted its head to look at Kurt, then whistled cheerfully, and Kurt couldn't help but laugh. "Thank you." He said.

"Alright. That concludes this meeting of the Warbles!" Wes said, tapping the gavel on the table. The Warblers all rose from their seats and slowly started to stand from their seats and file out the door. Nick and Jeff had detatched themselves from the crowd and were heading in Kurt's direction.

"Kurt, that was amazing!" Nick said, clapping Kurt on the shoulder. "No one has been unanimously voted into the Warblers since... well, since Blaine auditioned!"

"Yeah, Kurt!" Jeff said, boucing excitedly on the balls of his feet. "You did so good."

"Wow, guys, I... don't know what to say." Kurt said, a stunned smile still on his face. "Thank you." Jeff gave him a big smile, and they both left the choir room.

Finally, it was only him and Blaine in the room. Blaine didn't say anything when he came up to Kurt, just laced his fingers through Kurt's and smiled. Kurt smiled back, his skin tingling pleasantly at the touch.

"You wanna take a walk?" Blaine said, squeezing Kurt's hand. "The grounds are really nice, and you haven't seen them yet."

Kurt smiled back. "I'd love that."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

"You know, I was wondering about the song you chose for your audition."

Kurt and Blaine were both settled comfortably against the trunk of a large tree on the grounds of Dalton. Blaine was lounging with head against the base and his hands behind his head, and Kurt was sitting up with his knees drawn up to his chest. They were holding hands.

He tilted his head to look down at Blaine curiously. "Yeah?"

"...Why'd you choose it?" Blaine sat up and crossed his legs, still keeping their hands joined. "It was a great song, definitely, but I was curious as to what it meant."

"Oh." Kurt thought for a moment, his eyebrows creasing slightly in thought. "I... I don't really know why, to be honest." He answered. "It wasn't really... the lyrics, I don't think. It just reminded me of being here at Dalton, you know?"

Blaine smiled, and he moved their intertwined hands to rest on top of Kurt's knee. Kurt's heart rate immediately picked up, and his skin felt like it was covered in prickly needles everywhere that Blaine was touching it. "Is that a good thing?" Blaine asked. "Do you like being here?"

"I really do." Kurt responded. "I feel like... I've changed so much since I first came here. I feel... calmer than I was when I was at McKinley. I don't have to be so on edge all the time. I'm not constantly looking over my shoulder, scared of everyone."

Blaine scooted in closer to Kurt, and Kurt's breathing hitched slightly. What was he doing? "Do you remember when we first met?" Blaine said, his voice going quieter.

Nervous laughter bubbled from Kurt's mouth, not quite sure how he was supposed to respond. "Of course I do." He replied, settling for a light answer. "I was curious about your apparent Harry Potter fixation. It was intriguing."

Blaine chuckled, and suddenly his head was tilted to look straight at Kurt, their eyes level to each other and their faces less than four inches apart. Blaine's voice was low.

"Can I kiss you?" Blaine asked.

Kurt froze, his thumping heart almost painful inside his chest. "Yes." Kurt said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

Blaine closed his eyes and slowly leaned foward, connecting their lips together in a sweet, gentle kiss.

Kurt had always scoffed in the past when authors of romance books described a kiss with someone you liked as "fireworks", because it was such a cliche and unorigional way to describe a kiss, but he found that it was the only way he could really describe the feeling as Blaine connected their lips. White, hot bursts of electricity zapped in front of his closed eyes as Blaine moved their lips together, and Kurt brought his hand up to cup Blaine's cheek. Blaine moved his free hand up to rest on the back of Kurt's neck, his fingers ghosting over the pale skin, causing Kurt to shiver at the contact. Blaine's fingers continued to move at the back of Kurt's neck, and Kurt did not resist the touch, leaning into it with a small sigh.

Blaine's hand traveled slowly toward Kurt's collar bone, and Kurt didn't remember what was there until Blaine's fingers suddenly stilled and he pulled back from the kiss with a frown on his face. "Kurt."

Heat quickly pooled into Kurt's face. "Wh-what is it?" He quickly stammered. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No! No, of course not!" Blaine said quickly. "I just... what's this on your neck?" Blaine's finger traced a small circle around a spot on Kurt's skin.

Confused, Kurt glanced down at the spot where Blaine's hand still rested near his collarbone. There was a barely concealed bite mark underneath Blaine's fingers, a mark that had faded quite a bit since he first got it, but it still stood out in ugly contrast to Kurt's pale skin.

 _Fuck._

"Kurt..." Blaine inhaled sharply when he took his finger away from the mark and realized what it was. "Kurt, what happend? Is that... a bite mark?"

Kurt quickly to his feet away from Blaine's hands, his own hand subconsciously moving up to cover the wound. "No!" He said, his voice harsher than he intended it to be. All he knew was that _he could not let Blaine find out about the bite mark, about Karofsky._ "No. I don't want to talk about it."

"Wait, Kurt!" Blaine said desperately, quickly scrambling to his feet, taking a step towards Kurt. Kurt took a step back. "Kurt, please. I just want to help. I won't hurt you, I promise - "

"No!" Kurt repeated loudly, taking another several steps back from Blaine. "Blaine, I'm sorry, but I... I can't do this right now."

Blaine looked crushed. "Wait, Kurt, please - "

Ignoring the painful lump growing in his throat, Kurt just shook his head and turned around, walking away as rast as he could from Blaine's devastated face before he could change his mind and race back and spilled all of his secrets that he swore he would never tell.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

 **Alas, conflict! But never fear, my dear readers, it will all be resolved soon, because I just can't have Kurt be upset for too long. What can I say? I love Kurt.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Did you? I wasn't sure about making Kurt and Blaine's first kiss right now, bit for some reason it just felt _right_ to put in this chapter, you know? Or maybe I'm just crazy, I don't know.**

 **Anyway, I'm not gonna keep Blaine in the dark for much longer. I love slowburn as much as the next person, but even I'm getting frustrated at how long its taking Blaine. Kurt's out of excuses now... ;)**

 **Either way, hope you enjoyed!**


	22. Chapter Twenty-two - All is Revealed

**I'm kind of finishing this last minute because a) I procrastinated for ages because I didn't want to start this chapter and b) I couldn't decide what to do for days. So... here's hoping I get the chapter out in time!**

 **Also, for the flashback, it was _supposed_ to be italicized, but my dumbass phone keeps changing it, so I just gave up. Sorry! Enjoy anyway!!**

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Kurt bolted into the building and hurriedly opened the door to the first empty room he could find, the rec room in the junior commons area. He slowly slid down the wall and collapsed on the floor, letting out all the air in his lungs in one sigh and putting his hands in his hair and clenching it tightly in his fists.

He was an idiot.

A total, _fucking_ idiot.

Why, _why_ hadn't he remembered to keep Blaine's wandering hands away from his neck? He had been so careful to hide the marks from everyone in the past, why had he suddenly gone stupid when he actually needed to remember the most?

Well, in all fairness, he definitely hadn't anticipated Blaine wanting to kiss him, and all other thoughts had been wiped from his head the moment Blaine had connected their lips together.

But now... Kurt put his head in his hands, noting as he did so that they were shaking. How on earth was he going to face Blaine now? Not only had Blaine seen the bite mark on his neck, but he had then proceeded to run away without any explanation or excuse. How could he explain the mark without Blaine finding out about Karofsky? What if he had ruined things with Blaine forever?

Sometimes he really needed to think before he acted.

"Uh... Kurt?" Kurt slowly lifted his head from his hands to look up at who had spoken. Nick's was standing hesitantly in the doorway of the recroom, uncertainty written all over his face. "What happened? Are you okay?"

Kurt sighed and combed his hands through his hair. "I'm fine, Nick." When Nick raised his eyebrows skeptically, he added, "I just... made a fool of myself. In front of Blaine."

Nick frowned, walking over to Kurt and lowering himself to the floor to sit next to him on the floor. "What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"

He turned his head away from Nick. "It's... a bit of a long story." He said, his hand absently reaching up to touch his collar.

"I've got time." Nick responded gently, noticing the gesture and furrowing his eyebrows slightly with worry. "What is it?"

"Alright, then." Kurt cleared his throat. Here we go. "So, Blaine and I were sitting together outside earlier, and... he kissed me."

When Nick didn't responde for a moment, Kurt turned his head back to face him glanced at him. Nick had a worried expression on his face. "Is that... a good thing or a bad thing?" He asked slowly.

"Well... I mean, the kiss itself wasn't a bad thing." Kurt said slowly. "We were talking, and he asked me if he could kiss me, and I said yes."

Nick sighed slightly in a relief. "Okay, so... what's the problem?" Nick asked. "Did Blaine do something to you?"

"No!" Kurt said quickly. "No, Blaine didn't do anything wrong."

"Then... what's the problem?"

Kurt didn't respond, just looked away from Nick, his fingers tugging his collar back to reveal the small bite mark that Blaine had found on his neck. He heard Nick's sharp intake of breath from behind him. "Blaine found this." Kurt said, his voice sounding oddly blunt. He stayed still, waiting for Nick's reaction.

"Kurt..." Nick sounded incredibly sad when he finally spoke, and Kurt felt gentle fingers brush over the skin on his neck. Kurt stiffened. "Kurt, I -."

"Please, Nick. I have to tell you something about myself. You deserve to know." Kurt took a deep breath. "Nick, at my old school - "

"Kurt." Nick interrupted again, his eyes glittering with tears. "Kurt, I know. I know about Karofsky. I'm so sorry."

Kurt's whole body froze, and for a moment his brain didn't register what had just been said to him.

Then it did.

"You... you _what_?" He repeated, horrified, jerking his face away from Nick's hand. Nick's eyes widened almost comically. "You _know_? For how long? Who t-told you?" He felt panic rising quickly in his chest, and he forced himself to remain calm.

Nick looked as if he had been slapped. "No one." He said quietly, his voice catching in his throat. "I... I figured it out a while ago. I'm so, so sorry, Kurt, I should have told you as soon as I had figured it out, but I had just met you and I knew you didn't want us to know, so I just - "

"Does anyone else know?" Kurt interrupted, his brain barely registering Nick's apology.

Nick hesitated for a moment, biting his lip. "...Jeff." He said finally. "Jeff knows. B-but I didn't tell him, I swear! He figured it out himself, and then he told me that he knew. And... I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure Wes and David figured it out, too."

Kurt groaned and ran his hand through his hair, seizing it tightly in his fist. He couldn't believe it. All his work, all of his efforts to keep his friends from finding out about Karofsky, and they had figured it out already. "I... I've got to tell Blaine." He said after a moment. "If you guys all already know, there's no use keeping it a secret from Blaine anymore."

Nick looked startled. "Kurt, you don't have to tell Blaine if you don't want to." He said quickly, putting a hand on Kurt's shoulder and breathing a sigh of relief when Kurt didn't pull away. "You don't owe Blaine anything, and you don't have to - "

"No, you don't understand." Kurt interrupted, causing Nick to quickly fall silent. "I've wanted to tell Blaine, for a while now, but I just... haven't been able to. And besides, I... kinda owe him an explaination for running away."

Nick exhaled a shaky breath, absently squeezing Kurt's shoulder. "If you're sure, Kurt. I don't want you to feel pressured into telling Blaine if you don't want to."

Kurt forced a smile on his face. "Thank you, Nick. I'm okay, though. I just need to find Blaine. I'm guessing he's probably not very happy with me right now..." Kurt hung his head sadly.

"Hey." Nick reprimended him gently. Kurt looked back up at him slowly. "Blaine will understand. He won't be upset. Do you want me to get him for you?"

Kurt sniffed, wiping his eyes and slowly rising to his feet. "Y-yeah, that'd be good." Kurt said. "Thanks, Nick."

Nick just gave him a sad smile in return. "Anytime, Kurt." He gave Kurt's shoulder a small, reassuring shake before leaving the rec room to look for Blaine, wherever he might be.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

Nick let out a small sigh of relief when he ran outside to the grounds and immediately spotted Blaine sitting against a large oak tree at the edge of the grounds, his dark curls clenched tightly by his fists. He looked miserable.

"Blaine!" He called out loudly, racing over to him. "Blaine, I need you for something!"

Blaine slowly raised his head to meet Blaine's eye. His shoulders were slumped, and his hair was standing up in all directions. "Is this urgent, Wes?" He asked wearily. "Because I'm really not im a great mood right now, so - "

"It's Kurt."

Blaine eyes widened, and he immediately lept to his feet. "Kurt? What about him? Is he okay?" He asked quickly.

"Yeah, he's fine. He just wants to talk to you."

Blaine furrowed his eyebrows. "Did he... did he say why?" He asked, a bit nervously.

"I think it's better that he tell you himself." Nick motioned for Blaine to follow him. "Come on. He's waiting for you."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

It was almost half an hour before Kurt heard a soft knocking on his door, signaling that Nick had arrived back with Blaine. He slowly got up and walked to the door, opening it with a soft click.

Nick wasn't there, and instead a nervous looking Blaine was standing at his door, shuffling his feet shyly. He looked up when Kurt opened the door.

"Hey, Kurt." He said, and Kurt could hear the uncertainty in his voice. Kurt felt guilt churn unpleasantly in his stomach for making Blaine feel like this.

"Hi, Blaine." Kurt responded quietly. There was silence for a moment. "We can go inside, if you want."

When Blaine still looked apprehensive, Kurt took every ounce if courage that he had and reached out to take Blaine's hand, lacing their fingers together. He tugged Blaine's hand lightly, leading him into their room and sitting on Kurt's bed. Blaine looked at him expectantly.

"So..." Kurt was avoiding Blaine's eyes. "I guess I owe you an explaination, huh?"

"You don't have to tell me what happened if you don't want to." Blaine said softly, squeezing Kurt's hand. "I... I really shouldn't have pried like that earlier."

Kurt shrugged. "It's... it's okay." He said quietly.

There was silence for a few moments, the awkwardness practically tangible in the air.

"So..." Blaine finally broke the silence. "I guess we should... talk about what that kiss meant, huh?"

Kurt sighed, absently running his thumb across the back of Blaine's hand. He felt Blaine give a small shiver at the contact. "Okay." He said softly. "Let's talk about it."

"...What _did_ it mean, Kurt?" Blaine asked, tilting his head down to meet Kurt's eyes. "Because... I really like you Kurt, a lot. And I'd love to be your... your boyfriend, but if you don't, I mean, if you're not ready to be anything more than friends, or of you don't want to, I understand..." He gave a small shrug, cleary trying (and failing) to sound nonchalant.

Kurt couldn't help but give a small smile. "... I really like you too, Blaine." Blaine looked back up hopefully. "But... I can't... you have to know something about me, before we go any further Then, you can decide if you're still... interested." Kurt shifted, slightly uncomfortably. "It's about... what happened, before I ran away earlier."

"You mean, about...?" Blaine trailed off , his free hand moving up to touch a spot on Kurt's neck, where he knew the bite mark was. Kurt's breathing hitched as he felt Blaine's gentle fingers ghost over the mark on his neck.

Kurt swallowed. "Yeah. It's about that."

Blaine gave a small nod, encouraging him to keep talking, and Kurt took a deep breath. _Hear we go..._

"It was... it happened at my old school. McKinley." Blaine was silent, which Kurt took as encouragement to keep talking. "You guys know about the whole... bullying thing. But there was... something else, too." Kurt glanced over at Blaine, and Blaine nodded for him to go on, his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"All of the football players bullied me, but after my softmore year, most of them had let up. Got bored, I guess, and moved on to a new kid. But one of them just wouldn't leave me alone. He just wouldn't let up. His name was... was D-David Karofsky."

"I... I don't really know what made me finally snap. It was near the beginning of this year, and almost everyone had let up but him. He was relentless. He threw slushies in my face almost every day, and he shoved me into lockers, and I was sick of it. So a few weeks after my junior year started, he shoved me into a locker one day, and I... I confronted him about it." Kurt shuddered as the memory washed over him.

 **FLASHBACK**

"HEY!"

Kurt stormed furiously into the locker room after Karofsky, his shoulder still stinging painfully from where he had beem violently shoved into the lockers. He was just so _sick_ of Karofsky not leaving him alone.

He was finally going to do something about it.

"I am talking to you!" Kurt said loudly, striding up to Karofsky where he was standing at his locker.

"Girl's locker room is next door." Karofsky said offhandedly, not even bothering to look up at Kurt. Fury boiled in Kurt's blood.

 _"What_ is your problem?" Kurt demanded.

"Excuse me?"

"What are you so scared of?"

"Besides you sneaking in here to peek at my junk?" Karofsky sneered.

"Oh, every straight guy's nightmare!" Kurt said sarcastically. "That all us gay guys are secretly out to molest and convert you! Well guess what, ham-hock? You're not. My. Type."

Karofsky finally looked up to meet Kurt's eyes. "That right?" He said, looking furious.

"Yeah!" Kurt was on a roll, no need to stop there. "I don't dig on chubby guys who sweat too much and are gonna be bald by the time they're thirty!"

Something flashed briefly in Karofsky's expression, something odd and unrecognizable, but it was gone in a moment and replaced by even more anger. "Do _not_ push me." Karofsky warned, holding up a large fist in Kurt's face.

Kurt's eyes flicked briefly to Karofsky's fist. "You gonna hit me?" Kurt challenged. "Do it."

"Don't _push_ me." Karofsky repeated loudly, looking slightly uneasy.

"Hit me cause it's not gonna change who I am." Kurt's confidence grew with every insult he hurled at Karofsky. "You can't punch the gay out of me any more than I can punch the ignoramus out of you!"

"GET OUT OF MY FACE!" Karofsky roared, jow looking slightly hystarical.

 _"You,_ " Kurt said, pointing an accusing finger in Karofsky's face, "Are nothing but a scared little boy who can't handle how extraordinarily ordinary you are - "

Without any warning, Karofsky took Kurt's face in both of his hands and -

 **END**

"Kurt." Blaine's sharp voice brought Kurt out of the memory. He saw Blaine's hand move from his neck up to his face and brush away the tears on his cheek, which he hadn't even realize that he had shed. Kurt leaned into the comforting hand on his cheek.

"I thought he would yell at me, or beat me up, or do anything else. I was prepared for it. But instead, he... he kissed me." Kurt closed his eyes. "And I tried to fight him off, I swear I did, but he was too strong, and he..."

Blaine had a look of dawning comprehension and horror on his face. "Oh god, Kurt..." He, his eyes welling up with tears. It was like every single odd quirk about Kurt was falling into place, making sense now. "And that's why...?"

 _That's why you had a panic attack your first day, that's why you had a handprint on your neck and your wrist_ , _that's why you always walk so stiffly like your in pain, that's why Puckerman was so reluctant to let you share a room with me, that's why you used to flinch away from anyone trying to touch you, because you were raped._

 _And that's why..._

Blaine's next realization felt like a physical slap to the face.

 _That's why Nick had been acting so weird, and that's why Nick had recognized Karofsky's name, thay's why David had been avoiding Kurt's eye the last couple days, and that was why Jeff had suddenly run off after sectionals, and that's why Wes and David had been speaking in hushed whispers only a fee days ago, because..._

They knew. They _all_ knew.

And they hadn't told him.

"B-Blaine?" Kurt was looking at him hesitantly, and Blaine realized that he a stormy expression on his face that Kurt was eyeing apprehensively. "Are you... are you angry with me?" He asked sofly.

Blaine saw the nervousnesss on Kurt's face and felt his heart shatter. "Kurt, I'm not angry with you." He said. "I'm just... god, Kurt, I'm so sorry. I had no idea that it was so bad. I should have noticed."

Kurt gave a sad smile. "I didn't _want_ you to notice. I didn't want anyone to know, so I kept it hidden from everyone." Kurt sighed and added in a slight mutter, "Somehow everyone found out anyway."

Blaine had a feeling that he already knew, but he asked, "What do you mean?"

"Nick, Jeff, Wes, and David all... found out, somehow, without me telling them. It made me feel... kind of weird, you know?"

Blaine felt fury boil in his blood again, but he forced it down. He needed to talk to Kurt right now, he could deal with the others later. "Kurt, I don't want to make you uncomfortable, or pressure you in any way." He said, moving closer to Kurt and taking both of Kurt's hands in his. "I care a lot about you, Kurt. You mean so much to me, and if you want us to be friends, I'm here for you. And if you ever want to be... more than that, I'd like that, too."

For a moment Kurt just looked at him, then he leaned foward until his face was inches away from Blaine's face. He paused for a moment, and when Blaine didn't move his face away, Kurt connected their lips together in a quick kiss before hastily drawing back, his cheeks slightly pink. "Blaine, if you want to, I'd really like to be your boyfriend." He said, giving Blaine a small smile which made Blaine's stomach do a backflip.

Blaine smiled back. "I'd love to, Kurt." He said, leaning foward and giving Kurt a small peck on his lips, making Kurt smile. "I have to go do something right now, but I'll be back soon, okay?"

Kurt frowned slightly as Blaine detatched their hands and stood up, making to leave. "Where are you going?" Kurt asked.

Blaine's face darkened. "I need to go talk to some people."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

 **WOW! This chapter is pretty long! I think it's my longest one yet.**

 **Blaine knows now! It took me ages to figure out what I wanted to happen, but I think... I did a pretty good job? Did I? I don't know, I don't know what to compare it to. In the next chapter, a _very_ angry Blaine will surface, so be prepared for that ;)**

 **Buuut... I don't think there will be a chapter next Sunday. I've had a really long, kind of stressful week, and I only got, like, ninety words written for the next chapter. And I like to have the chapter mostly finished when I upload, so... yeah. Hope you all understand**

 **Please review! I really appriciate it. Bye!!**


	23. Chapter Twentythree - Mistakes Were Made

**This chapter was also written super last minute because I procrastinated YET AGAIN. I swear, I started this chapter early, I did! But then I was on youtube, and I have no idea what happened, but I accidentally rewatched the entire A Very Potter Musical! Then I wanted more starkid because I have issues, so I spent all my valuable writing time watching Twisted for the first time, and now I'm in the middle of Starship. Hey, it's not my fault that "kick it up a notch" is such a banger**

 **Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

Blaine barely registered where he was going as he stormed down the hallway to the choir room, all he could feel was a quickly building white, hot anger that was propelling his every move. He shot a glare at a small freshman that was in his way in the hallway, who gave a terrified squeak and scampered away.

He eventually made it to the choir room where, as he had hoped, Nick, Jeff, Wes, and David were all waiting by themselves.

Wes looked up when he saw Blaine enter the room. "Hey, Blaine." He said, at first not registering Blaine's anger. He absently thumbed through various sheet music as he spoke. "I've been wondering where you were, I wanted to ask you something about the War - "

He cut himself off with a cry of shock as Blaine strode up to Nick, seized him by the collar, yanked him from his seat, and punched him square in the jaw so hard that he stumbled and fell to the floor with a loud _thump!_

"Hey, what the _FUCK?!"_ Jeff roared furiously, standing up and quickly helping Nick to his feet. Nick stood up, wincing and rubbing his jaw.

"What the hell was _that_ for?" David asked incredulously.

Blaine ignored David. "You knew." Blaine said, pointing a furious, accusing finger at Nick. Nick's eyes widened almost comically at Blaine's words. Blaine turned and addressed all of them. "You _all_ knew! You all knew about Kurt and Karofsky, you knew that he had been raped, and _none of you told me!"_

Jeff looked over at Wes and David, his anger temporarily forgotten. "Wait. You guys _knew_?" He asked, shocked.

" _You_ guys knew?" Wes responded, his mouth falling open. He and David exchanged glances. "For now long?"

"What _I_ want to know," Blaine interrupted, "Is why _none_ of you thought it might be important to tell me this?! What, did it slip your mind? Or was I just too stupid to be included in all of this?"

"Blaine." Wes said, attempting to keep his voice even. "Please, try to understand us for a second, here. We all found out on accident, and since Kurt didn't tell us about it, we figured it wasn't our place to - "

"I don't care!" Blaine interrupted loudly. "Does it look like I fucking care? Kurt has been _hurting_ this whole time, and I could have been making it worse! Did it ever occor to you that I might accidentally say something or do something to make ot worse because I didn't _know?!"_

"Blaine." Nick said quietly. He didn't look angry, just extremely sad. His eyes glittered with tears when he spoke. "Blaine, I'm so _so_ sorry, just _please_ tounderstand. We all found out on accident, and we didn't want to break Kurt's trust. We weren't doing this to keep it from you, we were doing to protect Kurt. _Please_ understand."

Blaine felt some of his anger ebb away at Nick's devastated expression. "But..." Blaine sighed and combed a hand through his hair, the gel that he had messed up ealier coming off on his hands. "...what if I screwed something up with Kurt because I didn't know how much was at stake? "What if... what if I upset him? What if I drove him away? You guys know I'm not always... the most careful person."

"Blaine, believe me, we understand all of that." Wes said urgently. "But please think about Kurt in this situation. He told you himself that he didn't want any of us to know. Do you really think that us telling you something that Kurt doesn't want _any_ of us to know is really the best choice?"

Blaine looked at the floor, his face burning. "No." He mumbled, feeling stupid. "No, you're right. I'm sorry. I... wasn't thinking."

"It's alright, Blaine." Wes said, sounding tired. "Just please try to think a little bit before you yell at us, yeah? And maybe don't punch Nick in the face next time."

Blaine flushed and looked up at Nick sheepishly. "Right. Er... sorry, Nick."

Nick shrugged. "I probably deserved it." He said, touching his jaw and wincing. A dark bruise was already beginning to blossom against his face. Jeff took Nick's face in his hands and kissed the bruise gently, and Nick smiled at him.

"So. Are we forgiven?" Wes asked, raising his eyebrows at Blaine.

"Yeah. I'm sorry. You're forgiven." Blaine said.

"Good. I know you care a lot about Kurt, and we do too. That's why we just... want to make sure you're careful." Wes claped Blaine on the shoulder, and Blaine shook it off good-naturedly. "Anyway, what I was going to tell you earlier when you came in here is that I wanted to have a Warblers rehearsal tomorrow."

Blaine's eyebrows furrowed. "Why? Our rehearsal isn't schedualed until Monday."

"Yeah, but since Kurt's now a Warbler, we figured we should have one tomorrow, so we can... show him hiw we operate, you know?"

Oh, right. Kurt was in the Warblers. With all the hectic events of the last few hours, he had completely forgotten about Kurt's audition. "Okay, sure." He said, feeling slightly distracted now that he remembered that Kurt was waiting in their dorm room alone, waiting for him. "Listen, I gotta go right now, but I'll - "

Wes waved his hand, cutting Blaine off. "Go find Kurt." He said, smiling.

Blaine thanked him gratefully and quickly rushed off to his dorm room.

GLEEGLEEGLEE

The moment Blaine left the dorm room, Kurt reached out with shaking hands and grabbed his laptop, calling Santana on skype.

Santana picked up almost immediately. She was sitting on her bed, flushed and exhausted looking. She was still in their cheerio uniforms.

"Hey, Hummel." Santana said, reaching up and tearing the hairband out of her ponytail, her dark locks tumbling down and settling on her shoulders. "Just got back from cheerio practice, I'm exhausted. I swear, coach Sue can be such a - " She suddenly stopped talking, squinting at Kurt's face. "Hang on. Have you been crying? What's wrong? Who's ass do I need to kick?"

"No one's." Kurt said hastily, eyeing Santana's furious expression cautiously. "I just... needed to talk to you about something."

"Okay, spill."

"Okay. So..." Kurt sighed, absently ruffling his hair. "The others... Blaine, Nick, Jeff, Wes, and David, that is... they know about Karofsky."

Santana's face fell. "Oh, Kurt, I'm so sorry." She said sadly, and Kurt could tell that she really was, because she usually never called him by his real name. "How did they react?"

"I don't know." When Santana raised their eyebrows, he added, "It turns out they had already known for a while, and they just hadn't told me."

Santana's face darkened. "Assholes." She said. "I swear, I'm going to come over there and-"

"No, San, please don't be angry." Kurt pleaded, reaching out and touching his laptop screen, as if he could somehow reach her. "It's really fine, none of them are angry with me, and I have a boyfriend now!"

Kurt realized what he had said a second after he had said it and quickly slapped a hand over his mouth, hit ir was too late. Santana's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "Hold on. Did you say just say what I think you just said?"

"Er - "

"Are you telling me," Santana continued, a grin slowly spreading across her face, "That Kurt Hummel has finally gotten himself a _boyfriend?"_

"Yes, I got a boyfriend!" Kurt said, covering his burning face with his hands. "Please, don't tell anyone. Finn would go ballistic."

"Oh, this is _brilliant!"_ Santana laughed, clapping her hands together, all of her anger seemingly forgotten. "A _boyfriend!_ Who is it, Hummel? Do I know him? Is it the hobbit? Oh, _please_ tell me it's the hobbit."

"Don't call him that." Kurt said, his hands still over his face. "But... yes, it's Blaine."

"I knew it!" She cried, pumping her fist in the air triumphantly. Kurt sighed and rolled his eyes. "I _called_ it, did I not? You didn't believe me, but I knew you'd fall for him, and I was right! When are you gonna tell the Hummel clan?"

Kurt groaned. "Never, if all goes according to plan." He said, taking his hands from his face to glare at Santana.

"Don't look at me like that." Santana looked down to examine her manicure, smiling smugly. "You know you're going to have to tell them eventually. Hey!" She said suddenly, making Kurt jump. "You should invite him to eat dinner with your family tomorrow and tell them then! You are going to your dad's tomorrow, right?"

"Well, yeah, but..." Kurt sighed again. "Okay, fine. Fine. If Blaine wants to, I'll invite him over."

"If I want to what?" Kurt and Santana both turned their heads in the direction of the door. Blaine had just entered the room, and he was now glancing between Kurt and the laptop screen. "Sorry, am I interrupting something?"

"Not at all." Santana said before Kurt could speak. "Have a seat, hobbit."

Blaine made a face at the nickname, but sat next to Kurt on the bed all the same, taking Kurt's hand in his own. Kurt shivered at the action, looking up at Blaine and giving him a shy smile. Blaine smiled back at him, his eyes sparkling.

"Wow. You two really are _disgusting,_ aren't you?" Santana said with facination, leaning back and crossing her arms. "Puckerman's gonna have a field day."

"Sorry, what are we talking about?" Blaine said. "I heard my name earlier."

"Oh, right." Santana said cheerfully, giving Blaine a smirk. "Well, mini-fridge, I was just telling Porcelain here that he should invite you to dinner tomorrow with his family."

"Really?" Blaine looked over to Kurt, surprised.

Kurt blushed, shrugging. "Only if you want to."

"Kurt, I'd... I'd love to." Blaine said, smiling. "That sounds great."

"Really? Thank you, Blaine, that means a lot - "

"Alright, enough." Santana said, interrupting. "Now, I'll leave you two alone to make out in a second, but first: Pint Sized, I gotta give you the shovel talk."

Kurt groaned, and Blaine gulped nervously. "Santana, _please_ don't." Kurt begged.

"It's for your own good, Porcelain." Santana said, shaking her head solemnly. She then turned her gaze over to Blaine, daggers in her eyes. Blaine's eyes widened. "Alright, hobbit, now you listen and you listen good, because I'm only going to say this one time. Kurt Hummel a _catch_. Amazing voice, killer body. Sexiest guy ever. Shut up, Kurt." She added when Kurt went red and spluttered indignantly. "Anyway, like I said, total sex bomb. And if I ever _, ever_ catch so much as a _whiff_ that you have harmed him in any way, I swear to whatever you believe in, I _will_ blow your face off. With a shovel. Clear?"

Blaine's eyes had gone extremely wide. "Crystal." He said quickly. "I would never hurt Kurt."

Santana smirked. "Awesome. And with that, I take my leave. Goodbye!" She said, and before either of them could say anything, she exited the video chat.

Kurt groaned and let his head fall onto Blaine's shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Blaine." He said. "Santana's the most loyal friend you could ask for, but she's... a lot."

"It's okay." Blaine said, his arm moving to slide over Kurt's shoulders. Kurt smiled. "Although, I do have one question."

Kurt lifted his head, frowning. "What?" He said.

"...Why does she call you 'Porcelain'?"

Kurt laughed. "It's a nickname my old cheerleading coach gave me." He explained. "It just kinda stuck."

Blaine's eyes went impossibly wider. "You were a _cheerleader?!"_

Kurt laughed. "Long story."

GLEEGLEEGLEE

 **Yes! I finally finished this stupid chapter! A day after my deadline, but... it's here! Ah...**

 **Please review!** **See you (hopefully) soon!**


	24. Update (no chapter this week)

**Hello, wonderful readers! Unfortunately, no chapter this week. I've had a lot of personal stuff going on, and I'n having this fight with one of my closest friends, and it's just been a whole mess** **, and I completely forgot to write anything**. **There might not be a chapter next week either, but I'll do my best to write a little something every day. This story is actually almost over, so if there qre any suggestions as to what you would like to see next, I'm all ears!**

 **Thanks for understanding, and I'll hopefully update soon! Love you guys!**

 **-WolfstarKlaine11**


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